"Despite having adequate capacity and modern handling facilities, average turnaround time is 3.5 days as compared to 10 hours in Hong Kong, which undermines the competitiveness of the Indian ports," pointed out the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.
The congestion in ports, it said, was primarily due to slow evacuation of cargo rather than a lack of handling capacity, since ports are not adequately linked to the hinterland.
"An efficient multi-modal system, which uses the most efficient mode of transport from origin to destination is a prerequisite for smooth functioning of any port," the Survey observed.
This involves coordinating rail and road networks to ensure good connectivity between ports and the hinterland. The Survey said that till October 2006 in the current fiscal, cargo handled by major ports registered growth of 6.6 per cent, down from 10.4 per cent in the corresponding seven months of the previous fiscal.
"Ports not only play a crucial role in facilitating international trade but also act as fulcrums of economic activity in their surroundings and hinterland," it said.
In the port sector, the areas that have been opened up to the private sector include cargo-handling berths, dry docks, container terminals, and warehousing and ship repair facilities.
The Survey said all port trusts have set up groups with representatives from the NHAI, railways and state governments to prepare comprehensive plans aimed at improving rail-road connectivity of ports.
"The pre-berthing, waiting time at major ports on account, however, increased from 6.03 hours in 2004-05 to 8.77 hours in 2005-06. Significant inter-port variations in pre-berthing waiting time continued to persist," the Survey said.
The annual aggregate cargo handling capacity of major ports increased from 397.5 MT per annum in 2004-05 to 456.20 MTPA in 2005-06, with the average turnaround time increasing marginally from 3.4 days to 3.5 days in 2005-06.
The average output per ship berth-day improved from 9,240 tonnes in 2004-05 to 9,267 tonnes in 2005-06. There was an impressive growth of 13.6 per cent per annum in container traffic during the five years ending in 2005-06.
Privatisation of port facilities and services in the country has gathered momentum, and operators can enter into a service contract, management contract or concession agreement to operate port services, the Survey said.
About 80 per cent of the total volume of traffic handled by ports was in the form of dry and liquid bulk, with the residual consisting of general cargo including containerised cargo.
Economic Survey 2006-07: Complete Coverage
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