For the village in Estonia see Kandla, Estonia. Kandla, also known as the Kandla Port Trust or Maharao Khengarji Port Trust is a seaport in Kutch District of Gujarat state in western India, near the city ofGandhidham. Located on the Gulf of Kutch, it is one of major ports on the west coast. Kandla was constructed in the 1950s as the chief seaport serving western India, due to the partition of India leaving the port of Karachi in Pakistan. The Port of Kandla is located on the Gulf of Kutch on the northwestern coast of India, some 256 nautical miles southeast of the Port of Karachi in Pakistan and over 430 nautical miles north-northwest of the Port of Mumbai. It is the largest port of India by volume of cargo handled. Kandla Port Trust, India's busiest major port in recent years, is gearing to add substantial cargo handling capacity with private sector participation. The west coast port handled 72,225 million tonnes of cargo in 2008-09, over 11% more than the 64,920 million tonnes handled in 2007-08. Even as much of this growth has come from handling of crude oil imports, mainly for Essar Oil's Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, the port is also taking measures to boost non-POL cargo. Last fiscal, POL traffic accounted for 63 per cent of the total cargo handled at Kandla Port, as against 59% in 2007-08. The port will soon begin selecting developers for four clean cargo berths that together aim to handle 8 million tonnes of cargo. The four berths will be supported by a 14 m draft capable of handling 75,000 dwt vessels. The port has already received encouraging response from prospective bidders, for the project that is estimated to cost nearly 5,000 million INR. In 2015-16 the port handled 106 million tonnes of cargo. Kandla Port was renamed as Maharao Khengarji Port under the India port act of 1908.
Traffic handled
Year
Mln tons
Change* %
Share** %
2003–04
41,523
2.2
12.0
2004–05
41,551
0.1
10.8
2005–06
45,907
10.5
10.8
2006–07
52,982
15.4
11.4
2007–08
64,920
22.5
12.5
2008–09
72,225
11.3
13.6
*With respect to previous year. **Share of traffic compared to all major Indian ports. KPT is also moving towards building dedicated container handling capacity. In 2008-09 container trade was 138,000 containers, down from 165,000 containers in 2007-08. There is currently one container terminal that is under private operation by ABG Heavy Industries Ltd. The port trust's plans include setting up a dedicated container terminal with two berths on BOT basis. The 3,300 million INR project is expected to annually handle 0.6 million containers. The clean cargo and container berths form only a small part of KPT's expansion plans through private enterprise. Other aspects include berthing facilities off Tekra that is expected to boost cargo by 12 million tonnes, an offshore liquid terminal, bunkering facilities and a ship repair and building yard. Kandla Port has shown buoyant growth in cargo handling in the recent past. In 2008-09, its total traffic grew by 13.6% to reach an all-time high of 72,225 million tonnes. The port's share in traffic handled by all major ports has risen steadily over the years, peaking at 13.6% in 2008-09. Earlier projections made by the port indicate an annual capacity handling target of 100 milliontonnes per annum by 2012.
Climate
The climate here is "desert." There is virtually no rainfall in a year in Kandla. This climate is considered to be BWh according to the Koppen-Geiger classification of climates. The average annual temperature is 24.8°C. The average rainfall is 379 mm.
Economy
The Port of Kandla Special Economic Zone was the first special economic zone to be established in India and in Asia. Established in 1965, the Port of Kandla SEZ is the biggest multiple-product SEZ in the country. Kandla is the first Export Processing Zone in India. Covering over 310 hectares, the special economic zone is just nine kilometers from the Port of Kandla. Today, the Port of Kandla is India's hub for exporting grains and importing oil and one of the highest-earning ports in the country. Major imports entering the Port of Kandla are petroleum, chemicals, and iron and steel and iron machinery, but it also handles salt, textiles, and grain. A town has grown up on the port with a school and hotel etc.
