MANGALURU : With New Mangalore Port witnessing steady growth in handling of container cargo in recent years, Mangaluru is all set to get a container freight station (CFS) in the coming months.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued a letter of intent to the Mangaluru-based Delta Infralogistics (Worldwide) Ltd for setting up a CFS in Mangaluru within one year.

Ahmed Mohiuddin, Managing Director of Delta Infralogistics (Worldwide) Ltd said his firm would start operation of a dedicated CFS in less than a year from now. The CFS will be developed on a sprawling area located less than a kilometre from New Mangalore Port.

Delta’s CFS will play a crucial role in providing ancillary support to the dedicated container terminal at New Mangalore, while decongesting the port and terminal, he added.

JSW Mangalore Container Terminal Pvt Ltd — which has signed a concession agreement with New Mangalore Port Authority (NMPA) for mechanisation of berth no. 14 — operationalised a mechanised container terminal at NMPA in April 2022.

Following this, NMPA handled 1.65 lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers in 2022-23, against 1.52 lakh TEUs in 2021-22, recording a growth of 8.55 per cent. In terms of tonnage, it went up to 23.68 lakh tonnes (lt) in 2022-23, against 23.09 lt in the previous fiscal.

New Mangalore Port handled 30,086 TEUs of containers in the first two months of 2023-24, against 22,046 TEUs in the corresponding period of 2022-23, recording 36.47 per cent growth.

In terms of tonnage, it went up to 4.76 lt in the first two months of 2023-24, against 3.07 lt in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, recording a 55.16 per cent growth.