India’s ports have expanded to reach an annual capacity of over 1 billion tonnes, but the Minister of Shipping has called for more.
India’s ports have expanded to reach an annual capacity of over 1 billion tonnes, but the Minister of Shipping has called for more. The landmark figure was reached after coal, iron ore and car terminals, with a combined annual capacity of 15 million tonnes, were officially opened at Ennore Port on 28 January. At the ceremony inaugurating the three new terminals, Minister of Shipping Shri Vasan complimented the Indian port sector on its expansion so far, but underlined the need to develop capacity further to keep pace with the growth of the economy. Vasan believes India must upgrade its infrastructure and increase capacity three-fold to sustain its present high rate of growth, particularly at the country’s smaller ports. The shipping ministry has predicted that traffic at Indian major ports will more than double from the current 560 million tonnes to 1.2 billion by 2019-20, while at the smaller ports, it is expected to grow from 290 million tonnes also to 1.2 billion tonnes. It anticipates that, overall, traffic at Indian ports will grow by 11.3% a year. To meet this demand, ports have formulated plans for developing new terminals, upgrading berths and modernising operations with new equipment.
