India's Maritime Sector Forges New​​​​​​​ Opportunities

In a country where 95 percent of trading by volume and 70 percent by value is done through maritime transport, the importance of ports and terminals is significant. Since the country has the advantage to engage in trade and commerce through sea routes, the Indian maritime sector is constantly on the lookout for technologies and advancements to develop ‘smart ports’. Technologies such as real time track and trace, facilitating paperless transactions, big data, are all helping the industry to enhance security, lower the cost and deliver more for less.

- Twinkle Sahita

During April to September 2016, 12 major ports in India handled 315.4 million tonnes of cargo, showing a growth of 5.1 percent in comparison to the same period last year. Being a major manufacturing hub and the coastline of India running into more than 7500 kilometres, gives the country the advantage to engage in trade and commerce through sea routes. In the country where around 95 percent of trading by volume and 70 percent by value is done through maritime transport, the importance of ports and terminals is significant. It is currently serviced by 12 major ports and 200 notified minor and intermediate ports. According to the Ministry of Shipping, cargo traffic, which recorded 1,052 million tonnes in 2015, is expected to reach 1,758 million tonnes by 2017.

The Sagarmala Project, allowance of 100 percent FDI inflow, greater thrust on PPP projects, and the ´Make in India´ initiative have set a lot of optimism among the Indian as well as foreign players, who believe India is going to be a preferred destination for manufacturing and a major cargo generating and importing country in near future.

The Sagarmala project in particular, is being looked as an important strategic move by the Indian government to modernise its ports. It is an amalgamation of 150 projects categorised into port modernisation, connectivity, port-led industrialisation and coastal community development. The government plans to invest Rs 12 lakh crore for it under various programmes. At least 53 projects are expected to be undertaken to ensure the port handling capacity is increased by 1,000 million tonnes per annum. This includes six new mega port projects.