Bhubaneswar: Paradip Port has handled its highest traffic of 36.06 MT in first six months of this fiscal, up from 34.35 MT of cargo handled during the same period of previous year.
This is an increase of 5 per cent and Paradip Port Trust (PPT) has maintained its second position among the major ports in the country, PPT said in a statement.
During the April-September period in the current fiscal, thermal coal traffic in the port has increased by 8.718 per cent due to handling 14.83 MT against 13.64 MT during the corresponding period of previous year, it added.
POL (petroleum, oil and lubricants) traffic also saw a growth of 6.40 per cent by handling 9.52 MT against 8.94 MT handled during the same period last year.
The port handled a total of 771 vessels during first six months of the current financial year against 692 during the corresponding period of the previous year, an increase of 11.41 per cent over the corresponding period of previous year.
This apart, with support of East Coast Railways the evacuation of imported cargo from the port has also improved substantially as the port has been in a position to liquidate 312 pending indents which stood at 595 at the beginning of the year.
The achievement of PPT is laudable considering the fact that the port witnessed few unprecedented spells of work stoppages, said its chairman M T Krishna Babu.