Gujarat-based Kandla Port witnessed a marginal decline in its staff strength during 2001-2009, a study by the apex industry body Assocham found.

The employee strength has reduced marginally by about 1 percent or so at Kandla, where the number of employees dropped from over 4,300 to just over 4,000 during the aforementioned 10 years period, says the study.

Among all the major and minor ports, only Ennore port witnessed a rise in the number of employees from about 15 to over 86 during the aforesaid period, registering an upward CAGR of 19 percent.

For all other ports, the number of employees declined at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 4 percent between 2001-2009, thereby dropping from over 4,400 to just about 3,200.

The maritime states included in the study are Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Orissa, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu.

The study shows the number of dock workers registered with the Dock Labour Board at major ports of Kandla, Chennai, Cochin, Kolkata, Mormugao, Mumbai and Visakhapatnam also dropped at a CAGR of about 16 percent, which is from about 6,800 to less than 1,500 between 2001-10.

Overall, the number of employees at India's major ports has declined at a CAGR of about 5 percent between 2001-2010.