JN Port hit by huge backlog of import containers

Jawaharlal Nehru Port, which handles about 60 per cent of the container traffic in India, is hit by congestion, with the backlog of import containers, destined for Inland Container Depots (ICD), touching 6,000, against a capacity of 2,500.

This is attributed to the Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) not providing adequate container trains. Container trains, each of which carry 90 twenty foot boxes, are used to evacuate cargo from the port as well as transport export cargo to it.

According to port officials, the average number of trains per day at the port between June 4 and June 22 was 16, against a requirement of 20 to 22.

Maya Sinha S Sinha, deputy chairperson, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) said, “We have requested CONCOR brass to intervene in the matter and allow private rail operators to share the load. CONCOR has assured us that it will allot more trains to ease the congestion. There is a backlog of 5,500 ICD bound containers.”

“This congestion will take a toll on export shipments as the import boxes contain raw materials for manufacturing. Since JN Port is the largest container port and has faced congestion since 2002, the infrastructure committee under the prime minister should intervene,” said the secretary general of Western India Shippers’ Association, S R L Narasimhan.

When contacted, Mukul Jain, chief manager (Dronagiri Rail Terminal-CFS) of CONCOR, told Business Standard, “The current backlog at JN Port is due to a temporary delay in supply trains caused by the Gujjar agitation in Rajasthan earlier this month. Several tracks were uprooted during the agitation. We expect to bring down the backlog at JN Port by July 10.”

An industry expert said CONCOR would need an additional 30 rakes to clear the backlog.

“During the agitation in Rajasthan, it provided only 7.3 trains. Moreover, CONCOR was supposed to come out with a contingency plan before the monsoon set in. That did not happen,” he said.

However, CONCOR’s Jain refutes this claim. “JN Port is handling around 39,000 twenty foot containers in a month. Given that a single train carries 90 containers, it needs 433 trains in a month. Against that, we are providing 438 trains a month.”