MAJOR PORTS OF INDIA
There are 12 major
ports in the country. These are Kolkata (including Haldia), Paradip,
Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Ennore and Tuticorin on the East Coast
and Kochi, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mumbai and
Kandla on the West Coast. All the major ports are administered
by Port Trusts which are autonomous bodies except for the newly
constructed Ennore Port which has been registered as a company
under the Companies Act, 1966.
The cost of services
at the ports has an important bearing on the total imports and
exports of the country. If the cost of services provided by the
ports is higher, it would increase the cost of imported goods
in the country which are inputs to various products that are exported.
Thus the cost of our exports increases and these goods become
un-competitive in the world market. Therefore, the cost in the
port is a very important factor which, if controlled with improvement
in efficiency, can significantly boost exports. The ports do try
to control cost. It is a continuous process. However, thanks to
the renewed thrust on this aspect in the last one year, excellent
results have been achieved at most of the ports.
At Kolkata Port there
has been 10 to 35 per cent reduction in electricity consumption,
hiring of boats and launches, drying and docking expenses, security-related
expenditure, water supply, medical stores and overtime. In addition,
the port has not inducted any fresh man-power, which resulted
in a 7 per cent saving of the wage bill.
The Visakhapatnam
Port has achieved 40 per cent reduction in its inventory. Further,
there has been a significant reduction in the overtime, power
consumption and petroleum oil lubricant(POL) consumption. In addition,
Rs. 76 crore was saved because of improved efficiency at the port.
This resulted in a zero demurrage of the ships exporting iron
ore.
At the Mormugao Port
Trust in Goa, the consumption of stores was reduced by 30 per
cent while electricity consumption went down by 20 per cent.
Similar achievements
have also been recorded in Jawaharlal Nehru, Paradip, Chennai,
Tuticorin, New Mangalore and Kandla ports.
Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) is being implemented at all the major ports
in India in a phased manner. This is intended to greatly facilitate
the movement of cargoes from ports, save time for the people in
trade and industry and to make the handling of customs clearance
very efficient, without involving human interface.
In the first
phase, the ports handling containers are being covered. These
are Chennai, Mumbai, Kochi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Tuticorin and Kolkata.
At present, FDI has been fully implemented for import and export
containers in Chennai, Mumbai and Kochi. In Jawaharlal Nehru Port
EDI has been implemented for export containers. EDI for import
containers in this port is expected to be completed soon. Trials
for EDI are already going on at Tuticorin and Kolkata Ports.
In the second
phase, EDI will be implemented in the remaining ports and for
all the remaining cargoes. This process is expected to be completed
in the current financial year.
