According to the latest provisional figures for 1998-99, despite the general fall in traffic handled, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP) has beaten its target of 10 mt by 17.20 per cent and the last year's figure by as much as 31.69 per cent. It has ended the year with 11.72 mt cargo.

JNP has been able to do well mainly on account of cargo handled by its container terminal. In fact, it handled a record number of containers in the month of March. It also made a record with ICDS.

JNP has also been able to reduce its pre-berthing waiting time to an all-time low of 8.19 hours as against a high of 16 hours.

The Kandla port handled maximum cargo of 40.64 mt, an increase of 4.47 per cent over the last year's 38.90 mt. It is also slightly higher than its target of40 mt. Another major port which has registered a substantial increase over the last year's figure is Calcutta which handled 9.13 mt, an increase of 14.84 per cent over last year. However, it fell 3.89 per cent short of its target of 9.50 mt.

The Mormugao port registered a sharp fall of 14.92 per cent. From 21.18 mt in 1997-98, the cargo volume handled by it is calculated to be in the range of 18.02 mt. In fact, the 20.20 mt target set for it was also lower than the last year's volume.

Among those which recorded a fall in cargo handled was the Vishakhapatnam port which managed 35.65 mt, a fall of 1 per cent over 36.01 mt last year. The Mumbai port, which handled an estimated 30.92 mt, registered a fall of 3.68 per cent as against 32.10 mt last year. Interestingly, the target for Mumbai port was set at 34 mt but it fell short of it by 9.06 per cent.