Port of Kolkata

"Kolkata Port" redirects here. For the constituency, see Kolkata Port (Vidhan Sabha constituency).

Port of Kolkata
কলকাতা বন্দর
Container ship MV Chana Bhum berthed at Berth No. 3 of Netaji Subhas Dock
Map
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Location
CountryIndia
LocationKolkata, West Bengal, India
Coordinates22°32′46″N 88°18′53″E / 22.54611°N 88.31472°E / 22.54611; 88.31472
UN/LOCODEINCCU[1]
Details
Opened1870; 154 years ago (1870)
Operated bySyama Prasad Mukherjee Port Authority
Owned bySyama Prasad Mukherjee Port Authority, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India
Type of harbourCoastal breakwater, riverine, large seaport
Size4,500 acres (18 km2)[2]
No. of berths34 (Kolkata)[3]
17 (Haldia)[4]
No. of wharfs86
Draft depthKolkata: 8.5 metres (28 ft)
Haldia: 9 metres (30 ft)
Employees3,600[2]
Main tradesAutomobiles, motorcycles and general industrial cargo including iron ore, granite, coal, fertilizers, petroleum products, and containers
Major exports: Iron ore, leather, cotton textiles
Major imports: Wheat, raw cotton, machinery, iron & steel
Stacking area134722 sqm
Water depth12.5 metres (41 ft) (KDS and HDC)
Statistics
Vessel arrivals3670 (2017–18)[5][6]
Annual cargo tonnage67.34 million tonnes(2023–24)[7][8]
Annual container volume344,762 (2019–20)[9][10]TEUs[11]
Passenger traffic1,049 (2022–23)[12]
Annual revenue₹76.23 billion (US$910 million) (2022–23)[13][14][15]
Net income₹14.67 billion (US$180 million) (2023–24)[7][13][16]
Website
www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in

Port of Kolkata or Kolkata Port (Bengali: কলকাতা বন্দর), officially known as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (formerly Kolkata Port Trust or Port of Calcutta), is the only riverine major port in India,[17] in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, around 203 kilometres (126 mi) from the sea.[18] It is the oldest operating port in India[19] and was constructed by the British East India Company.[20] Kolkata is a freshwater port with no variation in salinity.[21] The port has two distinct dock systems – Kolkata Dock at Kolkata and a deep water dock at Haldia Dock Complex, Haldia.

In the 19th century, the Kolkata Port was the premier port in British India. From 1838 to 1917, the British used this port to ship off over half a million Indians from all over India – mostly from the Bhojpur and Awadh — and take them to places across the world, such as Latin America and Africa as indentured labourers. After independence, the port's importance decreased because of factors including the Partition of Bengal (1947), reduction in the size of the port hinterland, and economic stagnation in eastern India.

It has a vast hinterland comprising the entire North East of India including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, North East Hill States and two landlocked neighbouring countries namely, Nepal and Bhutan and also the Autonomous Region of Tibet (China). With the turn of the 21st century, the volume of throughput has again started increasing steadily. As of March 2018, the port is capable of processing annually 650,000 containers, mostly from Nepal, Bhutan, and India's northeastern states.[20]

  1. ^ "UN/LOCODE (IN) India". www.unece.org. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Kolkata Port Trust to lease area as big as London Docklands". www.livemint.com. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  3. ^ "BERTH PARTICULARS". Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Terminals". Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Top ports record marginal upswing in FY19 cargo handling at 699 MT". economictimes.indiatimes.com. 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Kolkata Port Trust – Cargo Statistics". Kolkata Port Trust. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  7. ^ a b "Kolkata Port profit jumps 65pc to Rs 501cr in FY'24, records all-time high cargo handling". The Economic Times. 4 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  8. ^ "Kolkata Port achieves all-time high cargo ( 65.66 MT) handling in 2022–23". www.indiablooms.com. India Blooms News Service. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  9. ^ "SYAMA PRASAD MOOKERJEE PORT (SMP), KOLKATA ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2019–2020". Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  10. ^ "Containers handled at major ports up 8% at 9.876 million TEUs in FY19". Business Line. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  11. ^ "India's major ports see 6.7 percent growth in container volumes". JOC.co. 7 April 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  12. ^ "Passenger Traffic at Kolkata Port". Kolkata Port Trust. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Annual Accounts and Audit Report There On For 2022–2023". Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  14. ^ Ishita Ayan Dutt (4 April 2023). "Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, India's oldest, posts highest cargo, surplus". www.business-standard.com. Kolkata: Business Standard. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  15. ^ "Calcutta Port Trust posts 26% surplus hike". www.telegraphindia.com. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  16. ^ "লাভের অঙ্ক বাড়ল হলদিয়া বন্দরের". www.anandabazar.com (in Bengali). Haldia: Anandabazar Patrika. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  17. ^ "Business Portal of India: Infrastructure: National Level Infrastructure: Maritime Transport: Ports". archive.india.gov.in. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Calcutta Port Trust – Brief History". Calcutta Port Trust. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
  19. ^ Bhattacharya, Snigdhendu (5 May 2017). "Close to 150 years, country's oldest port staring at threats from proposed ports in Odisha and Bengal". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  20. ^ a b Acharya, Shangkar (10 March 2018). "Kolkata Port plans upgrade to stave off competition". Kathmandu Post. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  21. ^ "Kolkata Port Trust renamed after Syama Prasad Mukherjee, announces PM Modi". The Times Of India. 12 January 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.