Mangaluru, (The Hindu): The port registered a net profit of  124.81 crore in 2017-18; plans afoot to improve road and rail connectivity to enhance cargo movement.

New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has been taking several steps, including abolition of notional booking and payment of speed money to the port’s cargo handling workers, to make the port competitive and attract more business, said NMPT chairman M.T. Krishna Babu.

Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, Mr. Babu said that even the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Shipping headed by the former Union Minister M. Veerappa Moily had observed that with the practice of notional booking and speed money, NMPT has become costlier.

The decision was taken at the pan-India level after discussions with labour unions, he said.

Paying fixed charges to the port’s cargo handling (CHD) workers irrespective of work being there or not formed notional booking while tips for faster turning around a vessel is called speed money. NMPT once had about 600 CHD workers and there are about 200 of them now.

Mr. Babu said that with its abolition, cargo handling cost at NMPT should come down at least by  60 per tonne. During a surprise inspection on Tuesday morning, he found that 17 of the 60 CHD workers on the shift were absent, after signing in.

The trust has plans to improve road and rail connectivity to the port to enhance cargo movement between the hinterland and the coast. Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari recently chaired a meeting and reviewed the proposals, he said.

The Chairman said that NMPT has formed a Business Development Team from within its personnel to interact with customers and improve revenue by visiting various industrial and plantation areas in the hinterland.

Financial performance

Mr. Babu said that NMPT registered a net profit of  124.81 crore in 2017-18 as against  94.57 crore in the previous fiscal.

Cargo handling improved from 39.95 million tonnes in 2016-17 to 42.06 million tonnes 2017-18.

There was improvement in container traffic handling too, from 0.95 lakh TEUs to 1.155 lakh TEUs (14.11 lakh tonnes to 17.43 lakh tonnes) during the period.

The port handled 43,973 TEUs (6.41 lakh tonnes) container traffic till July 30 in 2018-19, he added.

NMPT expects 36 cruise vessels calling on the port this year as against 22 in the last fiscal.

The port has also undertaken several infrastructure development works and ease of doing business measures, the chairman added.