BANGALORE: The Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) will run a goods rake from their Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Whitefield in Bangalore to the New Mangalore Port from December 16. This rake will mostly carry coffee and granite to begin with and then move to other cargo.The announcement was made by South, CONCOR, chief general manager Raveen K Reddy at a trade meet organised by the New Mangalore Port Trust in association with the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Bangalore.Reddy also announced plans for another Inland Container Depot which would come up in Nanjangud area of Mysore district for which CONCOR has earmarked 50 acres belonging to the KIADB.“We did a survey last week, the potential is good. We shall run a weekly train to Mangalore from the new ICD as well,” he said.Highlighting the new initiatives taken by the NMPT, chairman P Tamilvanan said: “We have 11 rail lines this year, we are also giving Rs 20 crore to the state to expand NH 17 near the port. Our container traffic has increased by 20 per cent this year and currently stands at 32,500 containers this year.”He also announced plans to introduce Enterprise Resource Planning methods in the port after current finetuning is completed.“For the first time in India, we have also introduced biometric systems for labour booking as well,” he added.The NMPT was affected by the ban on Iron Ore, but is shifting focus to other cargoes like coal, coke and granite of which it handled 92,000 tonnes this year.Highlighting the poor road connectivity between Bangalore and Mangalore in sections between Sampaje and Mani, FKCCI president J R Bangera stated that talks with the state government were fruitful and `6 crore was allotted from the state fund for development of roads.“An amount of Rs 138 crore has also been allotted for road widening projects and these will be taken up soon, Sampaje to Mani stretch will be completed by March 2012, the government has assured,” he said.
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