India's all major ports have been asked to put in place the RFID system to ensure real-time tracking of vehicles and men at ports.
"All major ports have been directed to implement RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) system by March 31, 2017. Implementation of RFID system will eliminate manual checking of documents at port gate and ensure real-time tracking of movement of vehicles, men and materials," Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan stated.
This would reduce congestion and also cost of operations at Ports, he said.
Present status of RFID system in the 12 major ports in India is given below:-
Kolkata Port Trust: At Haldia Dock Complex (HDC), work order issued and trial run and software development is under progress. The system will be implemented by 31.03.2017. At Kolkata Dock System (KDS), tendering is under process.
Paradip port trust: Already operational since 25.09.2016.
Vishakhapatnam Port Trust: Work order issued and the system will be implemented by 31.03.2017.
Kamarajar Port Ltd: Already operational since 15.11.2016.
Chennai Port Trust: Pilot run of RFID based Export document verification system is in operation for Export container trailers entering into ChPT from 22.08.2016.
V.O.C Port Trust: Work order issued on 20.02.2017 and the system will be implemented by 21.04.2017.
Cochin Port Trust: Fully functional since 20.07.2016 at Ernakulam Wharf.
New Mangalore Port Trust: RFID based Access Control System started trial run from 01.03.2017. The system will go live from 31.03.2017.
Mormugao Port Trust: Already operational since 22.12.2016.
J.N.P.T.: Fully operational in all terminals.
Mumbai Port Trust: Work has been awarded. Installation & commissioning of devices like Flap Barriers, Boom Barriers, RFID readers, Biometric Readers is in progress. The work is expected to be completed by 31.05.2017.
Kandla Port Trust: The system will be fully operational from 01.04.2017.