V. O.Chidambaranar Port surpasses Ministry’s cargo handling target for fiscal
On March 14, 2023, V. O. Chidambaranar Port surpassed the cargo handling target of 36 million tonnes set for the current fiscal by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, 17 days prior. The port has handed 36.03 million tonnes till the date, achieving Y-o-Y growth of 11.35% despite disruptions in the global supply chain.
The major commodities that witnessed considerable growth were construction materials (67.41%), thermal coal (NTPL) (63.16%), limestone (51.72%), sulphuric acid (37.34%), palm oil (35.55%), industrial coal (25.08%) and thermal coal (TNEB) (12.80%).
As per an official release, the major factors contributing to the increased cargo handling were bulk cargo transhipment, implementation of Preferential Berthing Scheme, MoU-based customer retention, ad-hoc container mainline vessel calls, increased coastal movement of salt, and implementation of Ease of Doing Business initiatives.
Mr T. K. Ramachandran, IAS, Chairman, V. O. Chidambaranar Port Authority, remarked, “The volumes are bouncing back in all forms of cargo and I am confident that VOC Port will achieve greater milestones in the coming years. I congratulate the efforts of all the employees, trade unions, terminal operators, and the enterprising port users and stakeholders for this noteworthy achievement and thank them for their unstinted support for the growth and development of the port”.
Source: Exim News Service: Tuticorin, March 16