Port Blair Named India's 13th Major Port

India's central government declared Port Blair a major port as of June 1, falling under the purview of the Indian Ports Act. The declaration puts the port in line for greater investiment.

“With this, the Port Blair becomes the 13th major port of the country, which will have territorial jurisdiction over all ports in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” the Shipping Ministry said in a statement.

The 12 major hubs, equally spread over the east and west coasts, include Kolkata, Paradip, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mumbai, Kandla and Ennore.

In fiscal 2009-10, which ended March 31, major ports handled 560.7 million tons of cargo, compared with 530.5 million tons in 2008-09. Container traffic rose 4.3 percent to 6.87 million 20-foot equivalent units from 6.59 million TEUs.
(Source:www.joc.com)