Visakhapatnam: Buoyancy in exports and imports and partly due to diversion of cargo caused by the continuation of workers' strike since April 12 at Adani Gangavaram Port Limited (AGPL), the Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) is able to achieve yet another record by handling a throughput of 10 million metric tonnes (MMT) of cargo in just 45 days in the financial year 2024-25.

Focus on increasing cargo, mechanisation of facilities through BOT operators and adoption of short and long-term plans to bring about drastic improvement in techno-economic parameters by the team led by VPA Chairman M Angamuthu have yielded positive results. VPA finished 2023-24 with an all-time record of little over 80 MMT surpassing previous year's 73.75 MMT on March 27 itself. This year's target is to handle at least 90 MMT.

The workers' protest for increase in wages at AGPL has led to diversion of ships stuck at Gangavaram to other ports like Kakinada, Gopalpur and Paradip though due to freight advantage VPA became a major beneficiary. VPA has an annual capacity to handle 125 MMT. During the recent visit of top officials from the Ministry of Steel, a proposal came up for discussion on having an arrangement with VPA to handle part of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL)'s cargo requirement to ensure raw material supply security.

Disruption of any kind in supply chain management is causing huge losses to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. RINL, the corporate entity of VSP, is totally dependent on AGPL for handling its cargo as the port is located in its backyard and it has signed a long-term supply agreement with the private port.

A top official of VPA said they have promised priority berthing facilities if RINL signs an agreement to handle its raw materials.

As on May 8, over 0.5 MMT of coking coal imported by RINL for uploading at Gangavaram was diverted to VPA. The strike led to massive disruption. At least 15 ships carrying about 10 lakh MMT were diverted from Gangavaram to VPA during the first three weeks after the strike. VPA announced on Friday that they could handle 10 million tonnes in the first 45 days of the financial year surpassing the previous record of 10 MMT handled in 47 days during the financial year 2023-24.

Meanwhile, Dr Angamuthu congratulated Traffic Manager GRV Prasada Rao and his team for the remarkable accomplishment. He commended their dedication and efficiency, which have been instrumental in achieving this milestone. The Chairman highlighted the significant progress and the port's commitment for setting new benchmarks in cargo handling. Key Performance Indicators set by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways are being followed by introducing a series of IT and green initiatives including beautification of the city as well as the port.

According to the ministry, the volume of traffic handled by the ports is mainly shaped by the levels and changes in both the global and domestic activity. The average container turnaround by the Indian major ports was less than one day, which was better rated than the United States (1.5 days), Australia (1.7 day) and Singapore (one day).