Paradip, July 6: The Paradip Port Trust (PPT) has registered a 45 per cent growth in cargo handling in the first quarter of the current fiscal (April 2013-June 2013) over the corresponding period of the previous year.

The port handled 17 million tonnes of traffic in the first quarter of this fiscal, compared to 11.74 million tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The first quarter traffic has also exceeded the target for the period by 5.79 per cent, said chairman of the Paradip Port Trust Sudhansu Sekhar Mish ra. The port handled 5.45 million tonnes of cargo in June this year compared to 3.63 million tonnes in the corresponding month of previous year.

In June, 1.97 million tonnes of cargo was exported and 3.48 million tonnes cargo was imported through the port.During this period, thermal coal traffic exhibited a 57.79 per cent growth. Petroleum oil and lubricant traffic has also increased by 24.50 per cent.

The Paradip port has been ranked the second highest in terms of cargo handling and percentage of growth in traffic among all the major ports in the first quarter of this fiscal. A record quantity of 1,76, 924 tonnes of high speed diesel was imported during June, surpassing the previous record of 1,72,365 tonnes imported during March last year.