Essar Ports Ltd (EPL), a leading private port terminal operator in India, has reported an 11 per cent increase in overall cargo handling at 9.16 million tonnes (mt) across its Hazira, Salaya (both in Gujarat), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Paradip (Odisha) port terminals for the quarter ended December 31, 2017. This was 11 per cent up from 8.26 mt a year ago, led by substantial growth in iron ore, coal, limestone and finished steel transportation with third party accounting for 16 per cent share in the overall cargo, the company said in a statement.

For the nine months ended December 31, 2017, the company registered a 16 per cent growth overall cargo at 26.5 mt compared to the same period last year, while third party cargo handling rose by an impressive 36 per cent to 4.26 mt in the same period last year, said Rajiv Agarwal, CEO,EPL, said.

The company has recently commissioned a 20-mt bulk terminal in Salaya and will soon complete expansion of the Vizag Terminal, taking its annual handling capacity to 24 mt, thus, taking the cumulative cargo handling capacity to 90 mt by the end of FY18.