Mundra Port goes from strength to strength: Report

As the nation’s largest commercial port, Mundra boasts of state-of-the-art facilities, including the largest coal, natural gas, and auto terminals. Its deep draft and all-weather capabilities ensure efficient cargo evacuation and minimal turnaround time.The port has capacity of handling all dimensional cargo like locomotives and helicopters among others.

In order to ensure seamless connectivity, Mundra Port has constructed a 210-km-long electrified rail line which connects to Adipur near Gandhidham in Western Railways.Besides, it also has LNG and LPG terminal facilities for import purposes.

Its strategic advantages and superior facilities have made it the preferred choice for major global shipping lines.

An infrastructural marvel, the mega port at Mundra is a major economic gateway and coming from Ahmedabad by road, one can realise that they are approaching Mundra as they see the continuous flow of heavy trucks all over.

From a handful of tonnes in 1998, Mundra went on to handle 100 million metric ton (MMT) in 2014 — the first in India to do so. Today, the port handles over 155 MMT, which constitutes nearly 11 per cent of India’s maritime cargo.

“We have reached the capacity of 157 MMT in a year till now and aiming to reach 200 MMT in this fiscal,“ said a senior executive of the Mundra Port.

Mundra is also the EXIM gateway for container traffic. In fact, 33 per cent of India’s container traffic flows through the port across a dedicated freight corridor that offers the unique facility of double-stack containers from the northern hinterland to Mundra.The port is equipped with separate jetty for steel, coal, automible containers, dry cargo such as salt, minerals, fertiliser and medicines, among others.The multi-commodity and all-weather port has a floating roll on-roll off jetty for transporting automobiles. The jetty goes up in the high tide and comes down in the low tide and irrespective of tide, loading of the vehicles continues.

Emerging as a crucial trade gateway, Mundra Port has grown into a multimodal hub that drives trade and fortifies economic progression. From its modest inception, it has ascended to prominence and has contributed over Rs 2.25 lakh crore to the state and national exchequer in the past 25 years, emphasising its central role in India’s economic framework. Additionally, it has generated employment exceeding 7.5 crore man-days since inception.

Mundra boasts of state-of-the-art facilities including the largest coal, natural gas, and auto terminals. Besides, mechanised semi-automatic bagging plant for fertilisers to bag and load 25,000 MT of bulk fertilisers per day and dispatch to upcountry for distribution.It also has dedicated agri-zone and agri-park away from Port area, for storage and bagging of food grade edible cargoes.

Mundra Port has been at the forefront of eco-conscious activities, from green initiatives to sustainable operational methods…One can see many approaching ships at the horizon of the blue deep sea, indicating that the activities of loading, unloading and berthing of ship will continue through the night, keeping the port 24-hour functional.