Port of Kolkata: Difference between revisions

{{Use Indian English|date=March 2017}}  

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}

| name = Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port Trust

| image = Kolkata port Trust logo.png

| image_size =150px

| location = [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]]  

| coordinates ={{coord|22|32|46|N|88|18|53|E|display=inline,title}}  

| operated = Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port Trust

| owner = Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port Trust, [[Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (India)|Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways]], [[Government of India]]

| size = 4,500 acres<ref name=live>{{cite news |title=Kolkata Port Trust to lease area as big as London Docklands |url=https://www.livemint.com/news/india/oldest-india-port-looks-to-lease-area-as-big-as-london-docklands-11582677194264.html |access-date=29 February 2020 |publisher=www.livemint.com |date=26 February 2020}}</ref>  

| berths = 28 (Kolkata)<br/> 12 (Haldia)

| wharfs =86

| piers =

| employees = 3,600<ref name=live/>

| blankdetailstitle1     = Official name

| blankdetails1         = Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port

| blankdetailstitle3 = Stacking area  

  | blankdetails4 =  

| arrivals = 3670 (2017-2018)<ref name=t/><ref name=cargoKoPT/>

| cargotonnage = 63.983 million tonnes<small>(2019-2020)</small><ref name="spm, kolkata">{{cite web |title=SYAMA PRASAD MOOKERJEE PORT (SMP), KOLKATA ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2019-2020 |url=https://smportkolkata.shipping.gov.in/showfile.php?layout=1&lang=1&lid=4547 |access-date=9 March 2021}}</ref><ref name=t>{{cite news | url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/shipping-/-transport/top-ports-record-marginal-upswing-in-fy19-cargo-handling-at-699-mt/articleshow/68761143.cms?from=mdr|title=Top ports record marginal upswing in FY19 cargo handling at 699 MT|date= 7 April 2019 |access-date = 7 January 2020  | publisher=economictimes.indiatimes.com}}</ref><ref name=cargoKoPT>{{cite web |url=http://www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in/index1.php?layout=2&lang=1&level=1&sublinkid=83&lid=124 |title=Kolkata Port Trust - Cargo Statistics |access-date = 13 June 2017 | publisher=Kolkata Port Trust}}</ref>

| containervolume = 8,44,762 <small>(2019-2020)</small><ref name="spm, kolkata"/><ref>{{cite news|publisher= Business Line| title=Containers handled at major ports up 8% at 9.876 million TEUs in FY19| date=3 April 2019| access-date=7 January 2020| url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/logistics/containers-handled-at-major-ports-up-8-at-9876-million-teus-in-fy19/article26719290.ece}}</ref>[[Twenty-foot equivalent unit|TEUs]]<small></small><ref name="JOC">{{cite web | url = http://www.joc.com/port-news/asian-ports/port-nhava-sheva/india’s-major-ports-see-67-percent-growth-container-volumes_20150407.html | title = India's major ports see 6.7 percent growth in container volumes | publisher = JOC.co | date = 7 April 2015| access-date = 27 June 2015}}</ref>

| cargovalue =

| passengertraffic = 20,396 <small>(2016-17)</small><ref name=passengerKoPT>{{cite web |url=http://www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in/showfile.php?layout=2&lang=1&lid=1288 |title=Passenger Traffic at Kolkata Port |access-date = 18 January 2019| publisher=Kolkata Port Trust}}</ref>

| revenue = {{INRconvert|2622|c}} (2020-2021)<ref name="T">{{cite news |title=Calcutta Port Trust posts 26% surplus hike |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/business/calcutta-port-trust-posts-26-surplus-hike/cid/1812297 |access-date=25 April 2021 |publisher=www.telegraphindia.com |date=12 April 2021}}</ref>

| profit = {{INRconvert|104|c}} (2020-2021)<ref name="T"/>

|locode=INCCU<ref name="Locode-1">{{cite web |title=UN/LOCODE (IN) India    |url=https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/cefact/locode/in.htm

|access-date=11 Sep 2020}}</ref>}}

'''Port of Kolkata''' or '''Kolkata Port''' ('''KoPT'''), officially known as '''Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust''', is the only riverine major [[port]] of India,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Business Portal of India : Infrastructure : National Level Infrastructure : Maritime Transport : Ports|url=https://archive.india.gov.in/business/infrastructure/ports.php|access-date=2020-06-16|website=archive.india.gov.in}}</ref> located in the city of [[Kolkata]], [[West Bengal]], around {{convert|126|mi|km|order=flip}} from the sea.<ref name="historyKoPT">{{cite web |url=http://www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in/index_new.html |title=Calcutta Port Trust - Brief History |access-date=11 February 2013 |publisher=Calcutta Port Trust |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313003421/http://www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in/index_new.html |archive-date=13 March 2007 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> It is the oldest operating port in India<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/kolkata/close-to-150-years-country-s-oldest-port-staring-at-threats-from-proposed-ports-in-odisha-and-bengal/story-PjuxNUKHMZVRESwJ1zjmXO.html|title=Close to 150 years, country's oldest port staring at threats from proposed ports in Odisha and Bengal|last=Bhattacharya|first=Snigdhendu|date=2017-05-05|work=Hindustan Times|access-date=2018-04-04|language=en}}</ref> and was constructed by the [[British East India Company]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-03-10/kolkata-port-plans-upgrade-to-stave-off-competition.html|title=Kolkata Port plans upgrade to stave off competition|last=Acharya|first=Shangkar|date=Mar 10, 2018|work=Kathmandu Post|access-date=2018-04-04|language=en}}</ref> Kolkata is a freshwater port with no variation in salinity.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/kolkata-port-trust-renamed-after-syama-prasad-mukherjee-announces-pm-modi/articleshow/73211842.cms |title=Kolkata Port Trust renamed after Syama Prasad Mukherjee, announces PM Modi |date=12 January 2020 |access-date=31 March 2020 |work=The Times Of India}}</ref> The port has two distinct dock systems — Kolkata Docks at Kolkata and a deep water dock at [[Haldia Dock Complex]], [[Haldia]].

It has a vast hinterland comprising the entire North East of India including [[West Bengal]], [[Bihar]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Assam]], North East Hill States and two landlocked neighbouring countries namely, [[Nepal]] and [[Bhutan]] and also the [[Autonomous Region of Tibet]] (China). With the turn of the century, the volume of throughput has again started increasing steadily. As of March 2018, the port is capable of processing annually 650,000 containers, mostly from Nepal, Bhutan, and India's northeastern states.<ref name=":0" />

In the early 16th century, the Portuguese first used the present location of the port to anchor their ships, since they found the upper reaches of the Hooghly river, beyond Kolkata, unsafe for navigation. Job Charnock, an employee and administrator of the [[British East India Company]], is believed to have founded a trading post at the site in 1690. Since the area was situated on the river with jungle on three sides, it was considered safe from enemy invasion. After the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833, this port was used to ship lakhs of Indians as ‘indentured labourers’ to far-flung territories throughout the Empire.<ref name="indianexpress.com">{{Cite web|date=2020-01-13|title=Explained: The significance of the Kolkata port, renamed by PM Modi|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/significance-of-the-kolkata-port-renamed-by-pm-modi-6213004/|access-date=2020-06-16|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref>

After slavery was abolished in 1833, there was a high demand for labourers on sugar cane plantations in the British Empire.  From 1838 to 1917, the British used this port to ship off over half a million Indians from all over India — mostly from the [[Hindi Belt]] (especially [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]] and [[Awadh]]) — and take them to places across the world, such as [[Mauritius]], [[Fiji]], [[South Africa]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Guyana]], [[Suriname]], and other [[Caribbean]] islands as [[indentured servitude|indentured labourers]]. There are millions of [[Mauritians of Indian origin|Indo-Mauritian]]s, [[Indians in Fiji|Indo-Fijian]]s, and [[Indo-Caribbeans|Indo-Caribbean]] people in the world today.

As Kolkata grew in size and importance, merchants in the city demanded the setting up of a port trust in 1863. The colonial government formed a River Trust in 1866, but it soon failed, and administration was again taken up by the government. Finally, in 1870, the Calcutta Port Act (Act V of 1870) was passed, creating the offices of Calcutta Port Commissioners. In 1869 and 1870, eight jetties were built on the Strand. A wet dock was set up at Khidirpur in 1892. The Khidirpur Dock II was completed in 1902. As cargo traffic at the port grew, so did the requirement of more kerosene, leading to the building of a petroleum wharf at Budge Budge in 1896. In 1925, the Garden Reach jetty was added to accommodate greater cargo traffic. A new dock, named King George's Dock, was commissioned in 1928 (it was renamed Netaji Subhash Dock in 1973).<ref name="indianexpress.com" />[[Image:Calcutta 1852.jpg|thumb|View of the Calcutta port in 1852|alt=|220x220px]]Though the port was conceived to be a commercial port and gateway of [[East India|eastern India]], the port played a very important role in the [[World War II|Second World War]]. It was bombed<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-12-20|title=76 years of Japanese bombing in Kolkata: How World War II almost destroyed the city|url=https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/76-years-of-japanese-bombing-in-kolkata-how-world-war-ii-almost-destroyed-the-city/1419989/|access-date=2020-06-16|website=The Financial Express|language=en-US}}</ref> twice by the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese forces]]. After [[independence of India|independence]], the Commissioners for the Port of Kolkata were responsible for the port till January 1975 when Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, came into force. The Port is now run by a Board of Trustees having representatives from the Government, Trade Bodies, various Port Users, Labour Unions and some nominated members. On 12 January 2020, the port was renamed to Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port by Prime Minister [[Narendra Modi]] on the occasion of 150 years of operation of Kolkata Port at [[Netaji Indoor Stadium]].<ref name="NDTV rename 12 Jan">{{cite news |title="Kolkata Port Trust Renamed As Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port": PM Modi |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/pm-modi-renames-kolkata-port-trust-as-dr-shyama-prasad-mukherjee-port-2162722 |access-date=12 January 2020 |work=NDTV.com |date=12 January 2020}}</ref>

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