The VO Chidambaranar Port Trust, Tuticorin and Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for facilitating Direct Port Entry (DPE) of e-sealed factory stuffed export container to the port under ‘ease of doing business’. With this MoU, CWC would make use of the 18,357 sqm area earmarked in the truck parking terminal for operating and managing the DPE facility for 30 years on annual lease rental basis. The DPE facility would enable direct movement of containers from factories without intermediate handling requirement at any Container Freight Station thus facilitating the shippers to gate-in their factory-stuffed goods directly to the container terminal 24×7.

The quantum of cargo moved by dedicated freighters hardly increased, bringing down their share of the pie from 23 per cent in fiscal 2014 to 16 per cent in fiscal 2019. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, in the five fiscals through 2019, domestic airfreight demand in India logged a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8 per cent to 0.8 million tonnes. During this period, majority of the cargo was transported in aircraft belly. A 14 per cent CAGR spurt in domestic airline capacity provided adequate room to support this growth. However, the trend is likely to change in the next five years. CRISIL Research expects domestic air freight demand to touch 1.1 million tonnes, cruising at 7-9 per cent CAGR, in the next five fiscals.

“India’s containerised exports with the world witnessed a stable growth of six per cent in the first quarter of 2019 propelled by robust performances in refrigerated cargo, engineering and pharmaceutical sectors, while imports declined slightly in the same quarter registering a market growth of -2.2 per cent in Q1,” states the Maersk India Trade Report Q1 2019. The import demand was buoyed by pharmaceuticals, metal, appliances and kitchenware, paper, chemicals and fruit & nuts, mainly from northern Europe, South Asia, China, and Russia. Exports were driven largely by the East and West of India, which contributed double digits to the growth, with commodities like plastic, rubber, textile, vehicles, and vegetables as the key drivers. Steve Felder, Managing Director, Maersk South Asia, said, “Considering the tensions in the global trade environment, we are off to a positive start to 2019 on exports, and the market is expected to strengthen. Indian exporters today are expanding their geographical range and product diversification, with a visible shift towards higher value-added manufacturing and technology-driven items. Exports have remained strong even as the rupee appreciated against the dollar, which shows a strong demand for Indian exports.”

Recently, Airports Authority of India (AAI) data has revealed that international freight movement from Pune airport, which is now left with just two international flights, was just nine metric tonnes (MT) in March as compared to 21MT in February and 39MT in January. National carrier Air India will now start using the transhipment facility at the city airport for international cargo exports. The move could give a much-needed boost to the dwindling export from the facility. “The airline had applied for using the transhipment facility at the Pune airport in connection with international cargo export, which though approved by customs, was still being analysed by the AAI.

In a joint meeting with Board of Trade and Council of Trade Development & Promotion, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways, said, “Ministries/departments can no longer work in isolation for effective outcome of government policy. Easier availability of credit at cheaper rates to exporters will be resolved expeditiously and customs clearances will be made quicker by installing X-ray scanners at all major ports. Robust mechanism for track & trace in the pharma sector will be implemented in three months, a new scheme to rebate state and central taxes and levies will be rolled out in three months and will be implemented in a phased manner for all sectors.” Specific action points for the implementation of new Agricultural Export Policy, reducing logistics costs, improving ease of doing business in all states, increasing domestic manufacturing and reducing imports were identified. States were urged to finalise their export strategies at the earliest keeping in view their state specific requirements and advantages. Minister of Commerce and Industry exhorted the State Governments to adopt GeM, a one-stop online procurement portal for better transparency and efficiency. State governments agreed to take steps in strengthening the entrepreneurship and start-up ecosystem.

Mansukh L Mandaviya has been appointed as Minister of State, Ministry of Shipping and Minister of State, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers. The former Minister of State in charge of road transport and highways, shipping, and chemicals and fertilisers, has been a familiar sight in the last five years. Mandaviya is a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat. He has also been member of various parliamentary committees such as that of the petroleum and natural gas, chemicals and fertilisers, Select Committee of Rajya Sabha on the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill 2013, and National Welfare Board for Seafarers.

Nitin Gadkari, in the new cabinet appointments, will continue to handle Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, while also handling the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The minister has been credited for smooth construction and operation of bridges, flyovers and expressways in the previous cabinet. He is also known to have played a significant role in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Gadkari earned his spurs as PWD minister in Maharashtra, by delivering the Mumbai-Pune expressway and 55 flyovers in Mumbai.

FarEye is all set to take on America’s logistics market. The company has announced the appointment of Larry Klimczyk as President, Americas. He will be responsible for the expansion and growth of FarEye customers and solutions throughout the region. This is one of the key steps in FarEye’s strategy to expand its business foothold in the region and build a strong local team. The organisation plans to hire more industry experts and open a local office in Chicago to be closer to its growing customer base. “We are very excited to welcome Larry, a veteran from the industry, to take the lead at FarEye Americas as it represents one of the fastest growing markets for us,” said Kushal Nahata, CEO & Co-founder, FarEye.

IndoSpace has announced its expansion in the North with the launch of parks in Rajpura (Punjab) and Luhari (Haryana). The company’s Rajpura park, the only Grade-A park in the region, is spread across 47 acres and is located at the junction of NH-44 and NH-7. Rajpura has emerged as the warehousing and logistics hub of Punjab due to its proximity to the tri-city (Chandigarh-Mohali-Panchkula) area and its well-connected rail and road links to the rest of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi-NCR and Rajasthan. IndoSpace Luhari III, close to the Delhi-Jaipur highway in the heart of the warehousing hub in Gurugram (NCR), is spread across 67 acres. The site is within close proximity to several large industrial clusters, such as IMT Manesar, Dharuhera and Bhiwadi. IndoSpace currently has two operational parks in Luhari (Luhari I and Luhari II) spread across a combined area of 66 acres catering to the key markets in North India and with the new addition, IndoSpace doubles its acreage in Luhari. “This significant expansion showcases IndoSpace’s commitment to building Grade-A logistics infrastructure to support the growth and modernisation of the nation’s supply chain. IndoSpace will continue to expand across existing as well as new markets in the future,” said Rajesh Jaggi, Managing Partner – Real Estate, Everstone Group (promoter of IndoSpace).

The three nations will sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the coming months for the east container terminal, located at the newly expanded southern part of the Port of Colombo, to deepen it and develop a facility to allow large container ships to enter. The nine-year-old Hambantota port in southern Sri Lanka, with almost no container traffic and trampled fences that elephants traverse with ease, has become a prime example of what can go wrong for countries involved in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Sri Lanka has been one of the countries drawn to the Belt and Road, an ambitious plan announced in 2013 by President Xi Jinping to build an estimated $1 trillion of infrastructure to support increased trade and economic ties, and further China’s interests around the globe. One project in the country includes Port City Colombo, being built by China Communications Construction. The plan envisions a financial district — pitched as a new hub between Singapore and Dubai — with a marina, a hospital, shopping malls, and 21,000 apartments and homes.