The biggest container handling port in India, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) on Friday reported a steady surge in cargo handling with the easing of lockdown restrictions and pick up in the domestic economic activity. The recent progress indicates early signs of recovery which is much needed especially after the disruption caused by the ongoing pandemic.
Despite the various challenges faced, JNPT handled a noteworthy 1,643,784 TEUs and 694 vessels in the lockdown period till 31st August 2020.
Earlier, the port faced a drop of over 35% in cargo handling in the initial lockdown period, slowly the decline has come down to 16.61% in August as compared to August 2019 and the port is trying to reach its pre-COVID performance levels and the numbers reaffirm that JNPT will maintain this growth trajectory.
The measures taken by JNPT for the stakeholders, port employees, shipping lines, and the local community have helped the port in improving its numbers month on month and JN Port registered a throughput of 3,52,735 TEUs in container handling in Aug 2020 as against 3,44,316 TEUs handled in July 2020.
Last month, JNPT had said it expected imports to get back to normal from the end of August while exports already witnessed an upward trend, resulting in an increase in the shipments in July.
The overall traffic handled at JNPT during the month of August 2020 was 4.74 million tons as against 5.68 million tons in August 2019.
“Ports are an important link in the logistic chain and JNPort has efficiently played this role during the last couple of months and after facing steep contraction, is now on the road to recovery. At JNPT, we have taken various steps to keep the port ecosystem functional and for the smooth working of the logistics and supply chain during the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, which has helped our cause. Also by converting JNPT Hospital as Dedicated COVID Health Care Centre, we are trying to do our best in helping the local community to come out of this crisis.”
~ Sanjay Sethi, IAS, Chairman, JNPT
The premier container port is expected to drive the next phase of transformation and further looks to strengthen its position, achieve the goals and remain in the position of a leading port in the coming years.
