3 Per Cent Growth in Traffic Handled by Ports During 2011-12

The total traffic handled by all ports in the country grew by 3% in 2011-12 over the previous year. This stood at 911.7 million tons. 11.5% growth achieved by non-major ports contributed to the overall traffic growth, although there was a decline in traffic handled at major ports. The traffic handled by all ports grew by 1.8% in the first half of 2012-13 (April – September) over the corresponding period of the previous year. The share of the non-major ports in this growth was 10.3%. 

The three port related performance indicators i.e. average turnaround time (in days), average pre-berthing detention time (in days) and average output per ship – berth – day (in tons) have shown improvement in 2011-12 and April-September, 2012 over corresponding previous period. The average output per ship-berth-day improved to 13,374 tons for all major ports during April-September, 2012-13 compared to 12,825 tons in corresponding period of 2011-12. The average turnaround time at major Indian ports improved to 4.15 days in 2012-13 (April-September) as against 5.29 (2010-11) and 5.05 (2011-12). 

The average pre berthing detention time (PBDT) for all major ports declined from 2.32 days in 2010-11 to 2.04 in 2011-12. According to the Economic Survey, this could be a result of the lower volumes handled by ports due to the global turn down.