Once heavily dependent on iron-ore exports, the Mormugao Port Trust has taken steps to recover from the mining ban in Goa and has diversified business to include wheat, granite, maize and even wood chips. And if meetings with business houses and traders in Belgaum bear fruit, the 125-year-old port could also become a major hub for the export of vegetables and fruits from the region.
MPT has had a series of meetings with manufacturers and traders in Belgaum and north Karnataka, to encourage them to use facilities offered by MPT, the closest port in the region.
Speaking to Herald in Belgaum after a meet with manufacturers and traders last week, MPT Chairman P Mara Pandiyan admitted that MPT had been identified previously only as an iron ore exporting port.
“Iron ore exports have stopped and hence we have focused on turning the MPT into a multi-commodity port. We have effectively managed to convince importers and exporters from neighbouring states to utilize the port. The response is encouraging and results can be seen as exports have gone up by about 20% during the last financial year,” said Pandiyan, adding that a rise in import and export activities at MPT will bring down ocean freight.
MPT officials have been holding frequent meetings with traders, manufacturers and associations. Adept presentations by exporters from Goa accompanying the delegations are being effectively used to promote the facilities at MPT. Assuring that innovations will continue, Pandiyan told business houses and traders during a recent meeting in Belgaum that MPT has infrastructure to export any commodity, including fragile materials.
In a major boost to MPT, West Coast Paper Mills at Dandeli in north Karnataka has commenced the import of wooden chips and logs as raw materials.
“The very existence of the mill was under threat due to dwindling raw materials. Thanks to importing facilities at MPT, we can now import wood chips and small logs via this port. Augmented infrastructure has changed the perception about this port. History was made at MPT on June 13 as a vessel carrying chips entered the port for the first time. From June 13 to March 2014, we will be importing 14 shiploads of raw materials from Thailand and South Africa,” Rakesh Chopra of West Coast Paper Mills Ltd told traders in his testimony at the recent Belgaum meet.
Belgaum Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Satish Tendolkar has also been impressed with developments at MPT. “With its proximity to Belgaum and north Karnataka, MPT is the best available port. We wholeheartedly appreciate and support endeavours by the MPT chairman Pandiyan in enhancing exports to ensure overall development of the region. Apart from exporting industrial goods, we are looking forward to export vegetables, chillies and other agriculture produce through the MPT, which will enhance the development of the region,” said Tendolkar, who has been initiating these bilateral meets.
Speaking at the meeting, Tendolkar said that BCCI intends to develop Belgaum through its industrial development and utilize facilities to boost trade and industry. Khwaja Sarfarz Nawaz of Aspinwall & Co, Sudir Gadem from Amith Cargo Movers and a number of exporters present at the recent meet in Belgaum also evinced interest in MPT and its infrastructure.
Moving a step ahead, MPT will also convene meetings with bureaucrats and ministers in Karnataka and Kolhapur in a bid to utilise its potentials. If these meetings are as favourable as the ones convened in Belgaum, MPT reliance on iron-ore exports could be discarded permanently and more significantly, Goa’s port could soon become the port of call for the entire region.
