Revival of Kidderpore Dock has reduced turnaround time at Kolkata Port says Century Ports

Almost a year after Kolkata’s iconic Kidderpore Docks got their first-ever PPP terminal, developed by Century Ports Ltd, the operators of the terminal said that the restoration of the historic dock has reduced turnaround time at Kolkata port by half.

“We have reduced the turnout times at Kolkata port by half. By virtue of this, we are seeing more business flow into Kolkata Port, more business will play an important part in revival of the port in a very meaningful way,” Keshav Bhajanka, director of Century Ports Ltd told The Hindu.

Turnaround time at ports, is a critical metric for measuring port efficiency, and is considered the total time a ship spends at a port—from the moment it arrives at the anchorage or pilot station to the moment it departs.

Authorities of Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SPM),Kolkata, have also emphasised on reducing vessel turnaround at the port, with the deployment of new mobile harbour cranes and advanced traffic systems. Last year in May 2025, the SPM, previously known as Kolkata Port Trust, launched night navigation capabilities.

Mr. Bhajanka said that Century Ports Ltd by restoration of Kidderpore Dock complex is trying to get volume back at Kolkata Port. “The demand at Kolkata Port is huge. Kolkata is the gateway to Eastern India. It is the gateway from Bihar to Chhattisgarh and so on and so forth. Infrastructure upgrade at Kolkata Port can play a pivotal role in servicing the growth needs of Eastern India,” he said.

Century Ports Limited, is a 100% subsidiary of Century Ply and has entered into a 30-year contract (SPM) Kolkata under a public private partnership (PPP) model for operationalization of Kidderpore Dock complex. Mr. Bhajanaka said that in the first phase the company has invested about ₹190 crore in the first phase. The concession agreement signed in 2022 for a 30-year period, is expected to boost cargo movement with integrated connectivity to road, rail and inland waterways.

Under the agreement with (SPM) Kolkata Century Ports is responsible for the development, modernization and operation of the terminal, including, installation of mechanised cargo handling equipment and improvement of yard infrastructure, deployment of digital tools for operational transparency and development of first-mile to last-mile connectivity through multimodal logistics.

The Century Port terminal is equipped with a mobile harbour crane, a barge unloader, modern yard equipment and an advanced terminal operating system (TOS), the facility has an initial handling capacity of 1.65 lakh TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers and 3.3 lakh tonnes of other cargo.

Authorities of SMPK have said that PPP projects over ₹4,000-crore are scheduled to become operational at Kolkata and Haldia docks over the next few years.