The Kolkata Port was set up by the British East India Company after the
company received trading rights from the Mughal
emperor Aurangzeb.
In course of time the power to rule this vast country passed from the East India
Company to the British Crown and simultaneously the affairs of the Port were
brought under the administrative control of the Government with the appointment
of a Port Commission in 1870.
In the 19th century Kolkata Port was the premier
port in British India. Though
the port was conceived to be a commercial port and gateway of eastern India,
the port played a very important role in the Second World
War. It was bombed twice by the Japanese forces. After the independence, the Commissioners for the
Port of Kolkata were in responsibility of the port till January 1975 when Major
Port Trusts Act, 1963, came into force. Playing the role of a premier port and
being rightly called as the gateway to Eastern India, it is the guiding factor
to trade and commerce of vast hinterland comprising the entire Eastern India
including Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh and the two land-locked Himalayan
Kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan.
The history of Kolkata Port has been a continuous story
of struggle and success – it’s a saga of uninterrupted development, improvement
and achievements. In the recent past, Kolkata Port has also been adjudged as
the best managed port in the country. Despite it being 126 miles away from the
sea, Kolkata is, by far, the best choice for eastern gateway to this
continental-country. Kolkata Port Trust remains one of the pioneering and most
promising ports of India. It commands a vast hinterland that comprises almost
half of the Indian states. It has two dock systems - Kolkata Dock System at
Kolkata with the oil wharves at Baj Baj and Haldia Dock Complex at Haldia -
have a combination of facilities offering various shipping related packages.
The Kolkata Port is now run by a Board of Trustees
having representatives from the Government, Trade Bodies, various Port Users,
Labor Unions and some nominated members.
