Major ports witness decline in profits

The country’s 12 major ports witnessed decline in profit in recent years. The aggregate profit of the 12 major ports declined to Rs 1,790.92 crore in 2011-12 from Rs 1,946.38 crore in 2010-11.

The combined net profit of these ports declined further to Rs 1,220.61 crore in 2012-13.

These 12 ports also witnessed contraction in cargo volume from 570 mn t in 2010-11 to 560 mn t in 2011-12. Cargo volume declined further to 545.79 million tonne (mn t) in 2012-13.

Some of these 12 ports have posted losses in recent years. For example, the Cochin and Mumbai ports have been incurring losses in the past three years.

Pension liabilities and other employee related costs caused losses for these two ports. For Cochin port, there is an additional cost of maintaining its channel.

The loss of Kolkata port stood at Rs 298.22 crore from a net profit of Rs 138.24 crore a year ago.

Mormugao port, on IndiaÂ’s western coast, reported a loss of Rs 94 crore against a net profit of Rs 24.37 crore a year earlier.