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Kandla Port
Kandla, also known as Kandla Port or New Kandla is a seaport found in the district of Kutch in state of Gujarat in western part of country, close to the Gandhidham city. Found on the Gulf of Kutch, it is one of key ports on western coast. Kandla was built in the 1950s as the major seaport to serve western part of country, after India and Pakistan partition.
The Kandla Port is found on the Gulf of Kutch to the northwestern coast of country about 256 nautical miles from Karachi Port in Pakistan and more than 430 nautical miles from Mumbai Port (Bombay).
History
The Navy of the British Royal India first appraised the stream of Kandla in 1851 for port’s suitability however, there was no detailed survey done until 1922. The Kandla Port was built in 1931 having a single pier by Khengarji III, former ruler of Kutch who personally found the spot and also connected the port to extend the Cutch State Railway lines from Anjar. After independence of India in the late 1940s, the then government chose the Kandla port to be a promising outlet to Arabian Sea.
When India lost the Port of Karachi to Pakistan, the trade of maritime in the area got shifted to the Mumbai Port. The facilities at the Mumbai port got developed very soon as per the requirements. In early 1948, the government made the West Coast Major Port Development Committee for studying the feasibility of creating a key seaport to substitute the Port of Karachi.There were recommendations by the Committee for locating the port at Kandla.
The Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1952 laid down the foundation stone to upgrade and expand the port on India’s northwestern coast. The Port of Kandla was considered to be a main port in April 1955. There was creation of Kandla Port Trust in 1963 for managing the new port.
There came up a severe tropical cyclone which hit the port in 1968 and the official death toll declared was 1,000 however locals in the area claim the figures to be much higher. The majority of the casualties were from illegal immigrant workers living in the port itself as well as poor towns of the region.
Location
Kandla port is located in the Kandla Creek and lies 90 km from the Gulf of Kutch. It is a natural harbor which is protected and has geographical location as latitude 23o 01' N while longitude 70o 13' E.
Economy
The Kandla Port or Kandla Special Economic Zone (KASEZ) has been the premier economic zone which established in India or in Asia. It was incorporated in 1965, and at present it is the biggest multiple-product SEZ in India. Engrossing over 310 hectares, the SEZ is just 9 km from the Port of Kandla. At present, the Port of Kandla is country’s hub to export grains and import oil and is the one of the highest-earning ports of the country. The key imports to enter the Port of Kandla are chemicals, petroleum and iron and steel machinery, however it handles textiles, salt and grain as well. Kandla is the premier Export Processing Zone in India (1965) as well.
Facilities
Storage Facilities
- 12 Dry Cargo berths available having Quay Length 2532 meters.
- 6 Oil Jetties.
- The entire Custom Bonded Port Area in the fencing of custom is 253 hectares.
- 1 deep draft mooring along with 4 Cargo moorings in the inner Harbour area to handle stream.
Container Handling Facilities
- 545 m quay length
- 2 harbor cranes of mobile.
- 4RMQCs
- 4 RTGC 4 reach stackers and prime movers which are 18 in number.
- 40 ha plot for the purpose of Container yard.
- Reefers plug points.
- There is a Regular Feeder service for JNPT, UAE, Mumbai,Colombo, Muscat,Bunder Abbas, Korea,Tuticorn,Cochin,Mangalore,Pipavav and other places.
- Majority of the economical handling charges along with concessional TAMP tariff for purpose of coastal vessels.
- The closest Port from Delhi and the areas in the vicinity.
- There are separate Stacking areas for keeping dangerous goods.
- There is a Railway line found near the Container Yard.
Steel Floating Dry Dock
The current steel floating dry dock is meant for catering to the requirements of the Port Crafts along with the outside organizations and has o capacity for accommodating all vessels of following parameters:-
- Breadth at the most to be 17 meters.
- LOA at the most upto 100 meters.
- Draft at the most to 4.5 meters.
- There should be a Lift displacement to the maximum of 2500 tonnes.
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