In the first half of current financial year,
cargo handled at India’s 12 major ports rose by 2.3 per cent, due to a whopping 44 per cent jump in power-grade coal imports. The government-owned ports handled 277 million tonne (mt) of cargo against 270 mt during the same period last fiscal.
When the government is struggling to stem a widening Current Account Deficit (CAD), the coal imports have risen, along with the accompanying foreign exchange outgo. CAD stood at a record 4.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the year ended March.
Between April and September this year, iron ore traffic fell 34 per cent and fertilisers fell 18 per cent even as Petroleum Oil Lubricants (POL) imports increased 4 per cent. There was also a drop of 5 per cent in containerised cargo.