COVID-19: Major ports' cargo handling drops about 17% to 245 mn tonnes in Apr-Aug

Impacted by disruptions caused due to COVID-19, India's major ports continued to witness a fall in cargo handling, registering 16.56 per cent dip to 245.04 million tonnes (MT) between April and August this fiscal, according to the apex ports body IPA.

Impacted by disruptions caused due to COVID-19, India's major ports continued to witness a fall in cargo handling, registering a 16.56 percent dip to 245.04 million tonnes (MT) between April and August this fiscal, according to the apex ports body IPA. Cargo volumes at these 12 major ports under the control of the Centre declined for the fifth straight month in August 2020 and all ports barring Mormugao saw negative growth.

These 12 ports had together handled 293.67 MT of cargo during April-August 2018-19, the Indian Ports Association (IPA) said in its latest data. Ports like Chennai, Cochin, and Kamrajar saw their cargo volumes nosedive about 30 percent during April-August, while JNPT and Kolkata suffered a drop of over 20 percent.

India has 12 major ports under the control of the central government -- Deendayal (erstwhile Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), V O Chidambarnar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip, and Kolkata (including Haldia). While Kamarajar port saw a 31.64 percent decline in cargo handling to 9.11 MT, the Chennai port suffered a drop of 30.36 percent to 14.42 MT in April-August, as per IPA data. Cochin Port saw a dip of 29.88 percent to 10.04 MT during the period.

Cargo handling at JNPT port slipped 25.53 percent to 21.68 MT, while the same at Kolkata declined 23.74 percent to 20.65 MT. Mumbai port logged a fall of 19.31 percent to 20.15 MT. In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, sharp declines were witnessed in the handling of containers, coal, and POL (petroleum, oil, and lubricant) among other commodities. These ports handle about 61 percent of the country's total cargo traffic. These ports handled 705 MT of cargo last fiscal.