The aggregate cargo handling capacity at the country's ports has crossed the one-billion-tonne mark following the inauguration of three ports at Ennore Port Ltd today.

“Today is a golden day in the annals of Indian maritime history,” said the Union Shipping Minister, Mr G.K. Vasan. With this strong foundation, ‘we are targeting the Indian port capacity to 3.2 billion tonnes by the year 2020.'

This target is quite modest as compared to China, which has a capacity of around 8 billion tonnes, he said inaugurating the three projects at Ennore.

With the three projects – common user coal terminal, iron ore terminal and car terminal – having a total capacity of 15 million tonnes a year (mtpa), the country's port sector has reached a capacity of 1.11 billion tonnes a year, he said.

Augment capacity

The Ministry has taken a series of measures to augment capacity in all ports and to bring in operational efficiency through public-private-partnership ventures. In the last 18 months, 22 new PPP projects worth Rs 6,172 crore have been awarded, he said.

The three projects will help Ennore port double its capacity to 30 mtpa.

The Shipping Secretary, Mr K. Mohandas, said early in the current fiscal, the other milestone was Indian shipping tonnage crossing the 10 million mark.

With today's milestone, “we are on a fast tract but this is not enough. We have long way to go,” he said.

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