New Delhi [India], Jan 12 (ANI): The major ports in India have recorded a growth of 3.77 per cent and together handled 518.6 million tonnes of cargo during the period April to December 2018 as against 499.7 million tonne handled during the corresponding period of previous year, said Union Ministry of Shipping in a statement on Saturday.

For the period from April-December 2018, nine ports Kolkata including Haldia, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Kamarajar, Chennai, Cochin, New Mangalore, JNPT and Deendayal have registered positive growth in traffic. "The highest growth was registered by Kamarajar Port (18.38 pc), followed by Cochin (8.92 pc), Kolkata including Haldia (8.74 pc), Paradip (8.11 pc), and JNPT (7.39 pc).

According to the ministry, Kamarajar port growth was mainly due to increase in traffic of container (41.20 pc), other miscellaneous cargo (46.66 pc, thermal and steam coal (8.75 pc) and other liquids (7.5 pc).

In Kolkata port, the overall growth was 8.74 pc. Kolkata Dock System (KDS) registered traffic growth of 0.42 pc, whereas Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) registered a growth of 12.42 pc.

During the period April to December 2018, Deendayal (Kandla) port handled the highest volume of traffic, that is, 84.91 million tonnes (16.37 pc share), followed by Paradip with 80.43 million tonne (15.51 pc share), JNPT with 52.53 million tonne (10.13 pc share), Visakhapatnam with 49.28 million tonne (9.5 pc share) and Kolkata including Haldia with 45.82 million tonne (8.83 pc share). Together, these ports handled around 60 per cent of major port traffic.

The commodity wise percentage share of petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL) was maximum, that is, 33.20 pc, followed by container (20.8 pc), thermal and steam coal (15.09 pc), other miscellaneous cargo (10.48 pc), coking and other coal (8.27 pc), iron ore and pellets (5.75 pc), other liquid (4.23 pc), finished fertiliser (1.23 pc) and FRM (0.94 pc). (ANI)

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