The Paradip Port, Odisha’s lone major port, achieved a major milestone as the fastest major port by clocking record throughput of 52.31 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) cargo on 14 August, 2023 in 2023-24 fiscal with a 8.4 per cent growth over the corresponding period of previous fiscal.

The incremental growth has been 4 MMTPA, which is the highest among the all major ports of the country. If the trend continues, PPA will be able to emerge as the top cargo handling port of the country, Chairman Paradip Port Authority (PPA) P L Harandh said.

The Port’s performance has been recognised as it has received three prestigious awards in the Sagar Shrestha Sammaan 2023 by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.

These include the No.1 Major Port Award for Overall Annual Performance, Port with Highest Incremental Improvement for Cargo Handled and award for Best Performance for Ship Berth Day Output in 2022-23 fiscal, he informed.

The PPA has added 55 MMTPA of Capacity including 30 MMTPA of berth mechanisation in the last 5 years. Currently, the Port capacity stands at 279 MMTPA, the highest among Major ports.

The Port has recently signed Concession Agreement with M/s Jindal Paradip Port Limited for development of 25 MMTPA Western Dock Project, construction for which will commence shortly. This will take the Port capacity beyond 300 MMTPA upon its completion, he further informed.

As part of Maritime India Vision 2030, Paradip Port will evolve as a world class mega port with over 400 MMTPA capacity by 2030 through its capacity augmentation projects.

All the berths of the port will be mechanised which will bring about enhanced productivity, eco-friendly cargo handling and reduced logistics cost for the customers. For this, over 80 MMTPA capacity addition projects are in pipeline to be completed by FY 2030. Looking beyond it, the Port envisions taking its capacity to over 500 MMTPA by the 2047, he added.

Under the National Green Hydrogen Mission, Paradip Port has been identified as one of the major ports to be developed as a hydrogen hub. For this, development of Port facilities is being planned by Paradip Port for which preparation of Feasibility Report & Model Studies are underway to finalize the layout of the dock including backup areas keeping safety aspects in mind.

As a part of its plans to drive the adoption of hydrogen and its derivatives such as ammonia & methanol as propulsion fuel for ships, Port plans to procure hybrid tugs from Cochin Shipyard.

Paradip Port is jointly conducting a project study for converting the Port into a Green Port at National Centre of Excellence for Green Port & Shipping (NCoEGPS) under The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the PPA Chairman P.L. Harandh concluded.