Gandhinagar - Cargo handled by ports administered by the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) has hit an all-time high of 449 million metric tonnes (MMT) in the 2023-24 financial year, up from 416 MMT in the previous year.

According to experts, growth in cargo handling came from the improved performance of private ports including Mundra. Crude, coal and containers contributed the most to cargo handled.

GMB has 48 Non-Major Ports in Gujarat.

According to sources, crude oil, coal, containers, LNG, iron ore, cement and clinker account for 82% of total cargo traffic at GMB ports. Private ports handled 247.51 MMT of cargo or 55% of total traffic at Non-Major Ports in Gujarat in FY24. This was 14.42% higher than in the previous financial year.

In FY23, private ports handled 216.32 MMT and accounted for 52% of total traffic handled by Non-Major Ports in Gujarat. Mundra handled the most cargo, 172.50 MMT in FY24, an 18% annual increase.

Cargo handled at Dahej grew by 8% to 34.59 MMT. Pipavav Port handled 12.94 MMT, 13% more than in the previous year.

According to officials, captive jetties handled 167.84 MMT or 37.4% of total traffic at Non-Major Ports in FY24.

In FY23, captive jetties handled 164.43 MMT which was 39.5% of the total traffic. In FY24, cargo handling at captive jetties grew by 2.08%. GMB-operated jetties handled 23.19 MMT in FY24, 8.34% lower than in the previous financial year. “Global supply chains were disrupted by Covid and this had affected ports. After that there was a speedy recovery and due to improvement in cargo handling services, Gujarat Ports are seeing significant growth,” an official said.