Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra has emerged as the topmost major port in India with the best turnaround time of 26 hours during financial year 2023-24.

Paradip Port, the topmost in terms of cargo volume in the country has a turnaround time of 41.61 hours, while the second largest port Kandla in Gujarat has a turnaround time of 54.24 hours, the Union government stated in data tabled in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. A ship’s turnaround time is defined by the total time spent by the ship at a port. This includes the waiting time, berthing and unberthing time. It is pertinent to note that reduction in turnaround time is primarily depended on the performance of the port in fulfilling its functions.

“We are one of the most efficient ports in India . We not only have world class operators who brought in the money, but technology and expertise too. We intend to take our turnaround time to less than 17 hours by next year. We have also mapped the supply chain inefficiencies and we decide that our stakeholders do not pay exorbitant charges for the services they get,” Unmesh Sharad Wagh, Chairman, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), told businessline in an interview earlier this year.

The average turnaround time for the 12 major ports has reduced by almost 49 per cent from 93.59 hours in 2013-14, to 48.06 hours in 2023-24, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal said in reply to a question posed by DMK MP, M Mohamed Abdulla. “The government has taken various steps to improve the turnaround time such as, the construction of new berths, terminals, and parking plazas, mechanisation/ modernisation/ optimisation of existing berths and terminals, streamlining of processes through digitalisation, expansion of hinterland connectivity through rail and road, etc,” the minister added in his written reply.

While Cochin Port has a turnaround time of 33.4 hours, some of the major ports like Visakhapatnam port and Mormugao Port have a turnaround time of 65.86 hours and 65.61 hours, respectively. The other ports with high turnaround time are Mumbai Port with a turnaround time of 62.97 hours and Syama Prasad Mookerjee port (Kolkata) with a turnaround time of 60.87 hours.

 In order to improve the day-to-day performance, Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) that manages the Kandla port in Gujarat has also held meetings with shipping lines and other stakeholders to iron out the “procedural bottlenecks” and to improve the evacuation of cargo and access to the port, official sources said.

Latest figures from the government show that the cargo volumes handled at major ports during the period September 2024 has already increased by 5.03 per cent in the current financial year (FY 2024-25) as compared to the same period last year. It has gone up from 393.929 MMT last year to 413.747 MMT this year.

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