The Hindu

Mangalore, Jun 7: The New Mangalore Port handled more than 1 lac tonnes of cargo on the newly commissioned Hassan-Mangalore railway line in May.

The port handled 97 rakes at its Panambur yard, of which 28 were received on the Hassan-Mangalore line. The port received the first rake on this line on May 5.

The port has enhanced facilities at the yard to handle increased number of rakes from the Hassan-Mangalore railway line. Railway users at the port have expressed happiness at the commissioning of the line. It has brought down freight charge for cargo such as fertilizers to places such as Shimoga, Davangere, Hassan, Bhadravati, Hospet, Mandya and Mysore.

The port had adopted an aggressive stance in increasing container cargo through its facility.

According to reports of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry, goods valued at nearly Rs. 62,000 crore were exported from Karnataka during 2004-05. But, the port's share in total exports was negligible. Steps had been taken to attract cargo from the hinterland.

R B Budhiraja, chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), and Tamilvanan, chairman NMPT, recently held discussions with container operators and exporters on the introduction of a feeder container service between Mangalore and JNPT, Bangalore. This service would immensely benefit the trade. Budhiraja promised to provide a window service at JNPT for feeder line starting from the New Mangalore port.

From April 2006, the New Mangalore port has handled 2,679 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers, showing an all-round increase in container traffic. Now, 48 reefer plug points are available for users and the port proposes to go in for reach stacker and increased paved area for container handling.