In a bid to transform itself as the first choice port in eastern India, Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) has engaged National Informatics Center (NIC) to upgrade its current IT system, which will help the port to plan its resources better and bring down costs.

The port aims to complete Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution implementation by March 2013.

"At present, technical surveys are been carried out by IIT-Kharagpur whom we have engaged for consultancy. The final implementation will be done by government-owned NIC," KoPT director, planning & research, Rebecca Das told PTI.

ERP rollout will help KoPT plan and use its resources optimally for greater efficiency and in turn bring down cost, she said.

The project cost will be ascertained only after IIT-Kharagpur submits its technical consultancy report.

KoPT has Rs 14,000-15,000 crore in projects till 2017 to augment capacity by an additional 100 million tonne, port officials said.