The Major Ports in India handled 315.4 MT (Million Tonnes) of cargo during the first six months of FY 2016-17 (April-September) and showed a positive growth of 5.1 percent as compared to the same period last year, informed official data released on Thursday in New Delhi.

The cargo traffic handled by the Major Ports during the same period last year was 299.5 MT. This improvement of performance is the result of many measures initiated by the Ministry of Shipping to improve the performance of the ports, it said.

These include mechanization of the terminals, improving the TAT (turn-around time), quick evacuation of cargo, expansion of infrastructure and skill development of employees. The slew of measures taken by the Ministry of Shipping to improve performance of Ports has started to yield positive results.

Murmogao Port recorded the highest growth in traffic during the first six months of FY 2016-17 (April-September); Mormugao Port showed an increase of 61 percent followed by Paradip at 18.3 percent Vishakhapatnam at 11 percent, Kandkla at 7.1 percent, Cochin at 5.2 percent, V.O. Chidambaranar at 3.5 percent, New Mangalore Port at 3.4 percent and Chennai Port at 0.3 percent.

Kandla Port handled the maximum cargo during the first six months of the FY 2016-17 (April-September). The Port handled 53.9 MT (17.1 percent) of the total cargo handled by Major Ports. Paradip was a close second at 42.6 MT (13.5 percent) followed by JNPT at 30.8 MT (9.8 percent) and Mumbai Port at 30.8 MT (9.8 percent).

Vishakhapatnam Port handled 30.6 MT cargo (9.7 percent) followed by Chennai at 25,892 MT (8.2 percent), V.O. Chidambaranar at 19.3 MT (6.1 percent). New Mangalore Port handled 17.5 MT (5.5 percent) of cargo followed by Haldia Dock Complex at 16.2 MT( 5.1 percent), Karmajar Port at 14.8 MT (4.7 percent).

The last three positions were occupied by Mormugao Port which handled 10.07 MT (4.1 percent) of cargo, Cochin Port at 11.9 Mt (3.8 percent) and Kolkata Dock System 7.6 MT (2.4 percent) respectively.

The first six month of FY 2016-17 (April- September) witnessed an astounding growth in Iron Ore which showed a growth of 142.4 percent as compared to the same period last year. This growth in cargo share of Iron Ore can be attributed to re-starting of Iron Ore mining in the State of Goa. POL (Petroleum, oil & Lubricants) increased by 5.8 percent followed by other cargo at 4.6 percent and container at 0.7 percent as compared to the same period in 2015-16.

In terms of composition of the cargo handled at Major Ports, the largest commodity handled in the period of April-September 2016 was POL (37.1 percent), followed by Coal at (23.4 percent), container traffic (19.6 percent), other cargo (11.9 percent), Iron ore (5.66 percent) and Fertilizer and FRM (2.5 percent).