Karwar: Business activities in Karwar commercial port saw an upswing in the last one year, indicating a growth in economic activities in the region. The port that witnessed the highest number of vessel movement in 2018-19 made an additional profit of `5 crore compared to the previous year.
After a ban on iron ore export in 2010, cargo import and export services at Belekeri port had completely stopped and it has come down to `2-3 crore in Karwar. But this year, import of bauxite, caustic soda solution, fuel oil and other raw products have added more revenue to the port compared to previous years.
The port registered a revenue of `11.59 crore in 2017-18 and `16.68 crore this year, which is `5.09 crore more than the previous year. Likewise in 2013-14, the revenue was `4.74 crore. Later, the port started registering gradual increase in import and export, which has been adding to the revenue of the government.
As it is a minor port, no major import and export like fuel are taking place here. Major imports of the port are bitumen, palm oil, rockphoshate, industrial salt and caustic soda, and major exports are molasses, caustic soda lye and caustic soda solution.
tration assistant, said the port registers around five lakh metric tonnes of import and export every year. But this year as a few bauxite cargoes had come to Karwar, the total import and export was increased to 9.46 lakh metric tonnes.
“Following a road work at Anmod Ghat on the National Highway 4A between Goa and Belagavi, bauxite import was shifted to Karwar from Goa. It resulted in 1.03 lakh metric tonnes of bauxite import to Karwar port, which is an additional revenue to the port,” he added.
As many as 157 cargo ships arrived at the port this year, which is 15 per cent increase. The total import has also increased to 26 per cent. It is a good news as imports and exports are increasing gradually, which is adding revenue to the exchequer and helping boost local economy, he pointed.
Port officer Captain Arun Gaonkar said the depth of the port is about 7.5 metres. Therefore no big vessel with huge load is allowed to enter to it, which is the main backdrop of the port. “When a 14-metredeep and 230-metre-long cargo ship came to Karwar to unload bauxite recently, half of its load was unloaded in the deep sea. After which, we towed it to the harbour when it was 6.5-metre deep. Once the second phase work of the port is completed, big vessels can enter the port without any hurdles of depth,” he said.