Ocean Freight on a Growth Trajectory

The projects underway at major ports in India is expected to boost the Indian shipping industry, EXIM trade and economy of the country. Over the years, cargo handled at major ports in India have grown considerably. The containerised cargo export from India has increased over the years with India standing on the ninth position.

 

- Rashmi Pradhan

The Indian shipping industry plays a crucial role in the transport sector of the country. With 12 major ports (six on the east coast and six on the west coast) and 200 non major ports in India, plans are afoot to add six more ports. Approximately 95 percent of the volume of India’s trade and 68 percent by value is through maritime transport. As per UNCTAD, India with 11.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units of container (TEUs) and a world share of 1.7 percent, ranked ninth in 2014 among developing countries in terms of containership operations. The cargo traffic of Indian ports increased by 8.2 percent to 1052.21 million tonnes in 2014-15. In India’s Maritime Agenda, the target for the year 2020 is 3130 million tonnes of port capacity with an investment of approximately Rs 296,000 crores. During an event held in Delhi recently, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport Highways & Shipping, informed that Indian ports have shown a growth of 2.6 percent, earning profits of nearly Rs 6000 crore.

The major ports in India handled 315.4 million tonnes of cargo during the first six months of FY 2016-17 (April-September) and showed a growth of 5.1 percent as compared to the same period last year. This improvement of performance is the result of many measures initiated by the Ministry of Shipping to improve the performance of the ports. These include mechanisation of the terminals, improving the TAT (turn-around time), quick evacuation of cargo, expansion of infrastructure and skill development of employees.