Indus Valley Times

By Pravakar Sahoo

Paradip, Dec. 20: Paradip Port achieved yet another 100 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) of cargo handling, in shortest time, in its history, showcasing the Port’s unwavering commitment to excellence and efficiency in cargo handling. It has once again repeated the feat by crossing the 100 MMT mark, 7th year, in succession and achieved cargo throughput of 100.28 MMT on 18th December in the current fiscal. Notably, in FY 2022-23 the coveted mark of 100 MMT was achieved on January 9th 2023. Thus by, the record was achieved in 22 days in advance i.e. in 262 days in current fiscal against 284 days in last financial year, by exhibiting 9.64 % growth in total cargo throughput. Thus this century is the fastest by PPA, in its history.

The Port is poised to set all time record cargo handling of more than 145 MMT in current fiscal. Various system improvement measures, introduced by the Port during this year, fuelled growth. Outbound Iron Ore and Pellet has shown remarkable 69.03% growth in comparison to previous fiscal. Last fiscal, it amounted to 10.56 MMT over the same time period, whereas till 18th December, it stands at 17.85 MMT in current fiscal. Coastal Thermal Coal handling constitutes about 30.38% of total cargo volume handled at the Port. The Port has also registered remarkable improvement in the Key Performance Parameters. Berth productivity stands at 32,689 MT per day per ship, which is the highest among all Major Ports of the country. The vessel turn-round-Time is recorded as 42.01 hrs. as against 47.60 hrs. during the corresponding period of previous year. Similarly, Pre-Berthing Detention is 1.18 hrs as against 1.73 hrs. during the corresponding period of previous year.  Thus Paradip port is emerging as a coastal shipping hub of the country and started coastal shipping of thermal coal to west coast, for the first time in history, i.e. Maharastra based Power Plants. It further plans to expand coastal shipping of thermal coal to other regions in west coast.

The Port’s commitment to operational excellence, coupled with strategic improvements in cargo handling, has positioned it as a key player in catering to the growing needs of the industry. Marking the occasion, symbolic cake cutting was done today at Board Room by Shri P.L. Haranadh, Chairman, PPA in the presence of other HoDs and Dy. HoDs.

For the above feat, Shri Haranadh, Chairman, PPA expressed his gratitude to Shri Sarbananda Sonowal Ji, Hon’ble Minister of MoPSW under whose inspiration, dynamic leadership and guidance, PPA could achieve the incredible success. He congratulated all Officers/Employees, the user industries, Stevedores, Steamer Agents, Trade Unions, PPP Operators for such amazing accomplishment in the ability of the Port to serve them.  Chairman, PPA also appreciated the support of Govt. authorities like Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (GoI), Govt. of Odisha, Indian Railways, Customs and other deptts for their continued support.