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My Dear Friends,
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As usual, I am again in this portal to appraise you various steps taken by us in the development of your favourite Port of Kandla.
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As of now, our traffic is showing increasing trend, albeit, lower growth rate. It is almost one million more than that of corresponding period of the previous year. First few months, the traffic at Kandla was showing a decreasing trend, both in liquid as well as dry cargo. Crude traffic is showing upward at Vadinar. I am getting a feedback that fertilizer traffic, food grains at Kandla may pick up substantially. There is some what depression in Salt, Metal Scrap, and Edible Oil. But, with the unstinted support from you, as usual, I am confident that we may be to cross 50 million marks this year, as per the targets fixed by the Government.
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We are living up to the expectations of the Trade and clearing congestion by various measures. Vessels' performance is being monitored closely on daily basis and higher performance vessels are given encouragement than that of poor performers. In this line of efforts, we have revised our existing Berthing Policy recently based on the feedback from the Trade to ease the congestion and give maximum output in terms of productivity. This policy removes restrictions in berthing of vessels in Import Group for the same commodity. There are some commodity restrictions in the Vessel groups by which some vessels, even though arrived earlier, were given preference later than the vessels of different commodity. This irrationality has been removed and vessels in the respective groups are given first-come-first-serve basis, subject to the other conditions in the Berthing Policy. Similarly, we have dispensed with the procedure of berthing on the basis of Master's ETA as it entails uncertainty. We have also introduced a system of berthing a vessel with higher draft on the day when the required draft is available provided the vessel is in seniority and would not have been berthed earlier due to inadequacy of draft.
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Looking to the expansion plans we have embarked upon and the response from the port community, we are planning to augment our allied necessary facilities like Tug Power, Pilotage Strength, Vessel Traffic Management System etc., so that your vessels be navigated faster and safer. By the end of November, 2006 we will have 2 No. Pilot Launches and One No. 50 Ton B.P. Tug in the flotilla of KPT. We will also go for hiring of high-powered tugs as the need arises.
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During the last year, you may be aware that the availability of our cranes has been maintained at almost 80% - 90% level, our dry dock has been occupied almost whole year, showing demand on this equipment also at optimal level. One more crane of 25 Ton capacity will be made available by the end of September 2006 and two more cranes of same capacity will be available by end of January 2007.
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We received good response towards the RFQ (Request for Qualification) invited for construction of 13th to 16th Cargo Berths. RFQ are under scrutiny and qualification of bidders will be declared by the end of this month.
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Your preferred port was congested with a lot of unclaimed and abandoned goods, causing stress on valuable storage space. We are making special efforts to auction and sell these goods at reasonable prices at the earliest so as to ensure easing of congestion , availability of space and cleanliness also.
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We have already declared 12 m drafts in the navigational channel and at berths and we, today, will be able to bring in larger vessels to Kandla Port. This has been long pending demand of the trade and it will give a competitive edge to our Port now. We could successfully overcome this hurdle of lower draft and we will go miles ahead in deepening and widening our channels so that you need not look for other uncomfortable compulsive avenues.
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Recently, we have a study carried out by Indian Institute of Technology, Madras regarding advantages of Tuna vis-à-vis other ports in the Gulf of Kutch. The study clearly establishes that topographically, bathymetry wise and looking to the wind velocity and currents, Tuna will be the most tranquil than other ports, with a deep draft of 17.5mts. We are contemplating one Port Based Special Economic Zone that can accommodate all port-based industries. I am sure Gujarat is abuzz with great industrialisation, especially Kutch where the new industries are availing special tax holiday benefits. I welcome all industries to indicate their interest in PB-SEZ and requirements of land, waterfront, port facilities, power, water, etc. so that we can couch them in our integrated development plan.
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My dear friends, we assure you that all the decisions taken in your Port are in consultation with the Trade and in the absolute transparent way aiming efficiency.
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Before, I conclude, I would like reassuring all of you that we are committed to serve the Trade and the Nation, with cost-effectiveness, efficiency and transparency. I request, as always, to patronise this Port with more cargoes and investments.
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Kandla Port, at your service.
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Yours truly,
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A. JANARDHANA RAO
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Chairman,KPT
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| chairman@kandlaport.com, or |
| ajanarao@hotmail.com |
| 18-09-2006.
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