Ports in east coast have tremendous potential

Ports in the eastern coast of India hold tremendous potential for growth in cargo traffic owing to the development of new projects in the neighbouring areas, reports suggest.

Some reports indicate that the ports in east coast are expected to handle coking coal and non-coking coal imports as several major power plants are coming up in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

There is a rise in the traffic from the eastern coastline and these ports may handle 35 percent of the country’s total cargo by next year, industry sources feel.

Also, a change in India’s trade pattern added more potential for port operators in the east coast. In recent times, China has emerged as the largest trade partner while the trade between India and other south Asian countries, including Singapore and Indonesia, have also been on the rise.

But industry players feel that the government must put in place enabling infrastructure to make the east coast more attractive.

Typically, ports on the east coast handle import cargoes of coal, iron ore and other cargo, excluding container cargo.

Essar currently operates two terminals at government-controlled Paradip port for handling iron ore and coal. The company believes that the iron ore terminal in Vishakhapatnam will help it to increase its third party cargo by at least 15 percent.