Tajpur port, productivity crucial for KoPT survival

Acting chairman of Kolkata Port Trust M T Krishna Babu on Thursday said not a very bright future lay in store for the port unless the proposed Tajpur port got off the ground and employees improved their productivity.

Krishna Babu said that the Tajpur Port facility needed to be complementary to the Haldia docks for the KoPT to survive.

"The hinterland of Paradip port is different than KoPT. The projects of Paradip port may pose a threat in the long run but in the short term Subarnarekha port will be a greater competitor as also Dhamra Port," he said.

Subarnarekha Port is a deep draft port coming up at the mouth of Chaumukh river in Balasore district of Odisha and will pose direct competition to Haldia docks.

Tajpur and Subernarekha Ports can potentially divert 40 percent of Haldia's cargo sounding a death knell for KoPT with its existing KDS, HDC docks unless a suitable strategy is charted out."

Krishna Babu added that the Union Shipping Ministry had told the Bengal government that it wanted to become the key promoter for Tajpur port project. The existing channels leading to the Haldia dock are gradually getting choked and a Rs 3,000 crore project needs to be taken up to cut a channel right through the Nayachar island for a long term draft solution, the acting chairman says.

Speaking at the pres meet, he also mentioned that the KoPT has registered a significant growth in its operating income from Rs 1,586.06 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 1,761.61crore in 2016-17, a rise of 11.07 percent despite flat traffic movement.

"Despite difficult market conditions, we have managed to register an operating surplus by 12.63 percent. In the current financial year, we have managed to make a profit of Rs 631.12 crore against Rs 560.35 in 2014-15," he said. KoPT has come up in the sixth position among the major ports. It has handled 50.31 million tonne of traffic in 2016-17 recording a growth of 0.05 percent. In the previous year, it had handled 50.289 million tonne of traffic. In 2016-17, KoPT has managed to handle around 3,431 ships, the highest among Indian major ports. KoPT also handled

In 2016-17, KoPT has managed to handle around 3,431 ships, the highest among Indian major ports. KoPT also handled rail-borne traffic of 25.62 metric tonne (MT) against 24.42 MT registering a growth of 5 percent. The acting chairman also stated that there is need to strengthen the pension funds as it has recorded a deficit of Rs 476 crore.