Paradip Port Trust (PPT) Chairman Sudhanshu Sekhara Mishra received the Major Port of the Year Award conferred on the PPT for recognition of the port’s excellence in the cargo and logistic sectors during 2012-13.
The award was given at a function organised by the Shipping Times during the SCOPE International Conference and Exhibition, 2013 on July 19 last in Chennai. The port’s operational performance, year-on-year growth, infrastructure development, connectivity and state-of-the-art facilities were considered by a jury headed by Capt S Bhardwaj of AMET University before choosing it as the winner.
The PPT handled 56.55 million tonnes of traffic during 2012-13, which was the second highest achieved by the port in 51 years. The port had achieved this feat in spite of slump in iron ore export to the tune of 4.72 million tonnes (72.01 per cent) in the year. The port also achieved 4.24 per cent year-on-year growth against the previous year’s traffic of 54.25 million tonnes. With addition of 22 MMTPA to the capacity during 2012-13, the port stood first in terms of capacity amongst all major ports with 102 MMTPA capacity.
While accepting the accolade, the PPT Chairman thanked all the trustees, employees, officers, trade unions, port users and all other stakeholders for their commitment and hard work and appealed all to continue their effort and endeavour in the coming years to excel further in making landmark achievements and bringing glory to the port.
He also expressed his deepest sense of gratitude to Minister of Shipping, and authorities of the Ministry of Shipping, besides Chief Minister of Odisha and other functionaries of State Government.