Thanks to a rise in the overseas business of rubber products, the volume of cargo handled by the Kottayam port—the first multi-modal Inland Container Depot (ICD ) in the country— has recorded a sharp jump with the exports outstripping imports for the first time.
As per estimates, the total cargo moved through the port here this year has risen to 2,779 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) from 1,747 TEUs last year. The volume of exports reported a sharp year-on-year rise from 718 TEUs in the previous year to 1,980 TEUs in the present year. The volume of imports, meanwhile, has dropped to 799 TEUs from 1,029 TEUs recorded in the previous year.
“The objective is to take the total volume of business to 2,800 TEUs by March 31,” said Roopesh Kumar, general manager, Kottayam port. He attributed the sharp rise in business this year to the export promotion schemes by the government as well as the attempts by the port authority to develop the facility as an export-oriented unit.
