Paradip Port Trust has retained the second position among the major ports of the country by handling the highest ever traffic of 36.06 million tonnes in the first six months (April to September-2015) in the current financial year as compared to 34.35 million tonnes of cargo handled during the corresponding period of the previous year.
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.