Category Archives: Shipping

Samir J Shah, Chairman, FFFAI believes, “The recent bold steps from the government pertaining to fiscal discipline, restructuring of tax regime, capacity building through setting up of appropriate infrastructure and connectivity have further been strengthened by the Budge 2017-18 announcements. For instance, budgetary allocation of Rs 2,41,387 crore for multimodal transportation sector, increase of allocation for highways from Rs 57,976 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 64,900 crore for 2017-18, identifying 2,000 kms of coastal connectivity roads for construction and development, more emphasis on agro- based produces through NABARD and appropriate logistics facilities for them, emphasis on MSME sector, port connectivity, Greenfield ports, airports in Tier-II & Tier-III cities through PPP mode, logistics parks, etc would have long-term and significant effects on India’s manufacturing and merchandise trade.” “Remarkably, the finance minister has announced the government’s decision to set up 1500 Multi Skill Training Institutes across the country. For these, Rs 1,700 crore has been allotted for FY 2017-18. This highlights the government’s firm commitments towards adding value to capacity building in a larger perspective. FFFAI, in its pre-Budget memorandum had urged the Finance Ministry to address the micro issues related customs clearance. We are optimistic that the finance minister’s commitments on ease of doing business would resolve those in the days to come,” he states.

Prakash Tulsiani, Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer, Allcargo Logistics, wishes, “While there is a wish list of reforms that the sector deserves, a few points need to be considered on priority. At the outset, GST implementation is key for ease in movement of goods in the domestic market, the benefits of which are well discussed in the recent past. Secondly, focus on provisioning for infrastructure development, including better transportation system that will improve business efficiencies, thereby benefiting the sector immensely. The government should also look at fast tracking approvals for new infrastructure projects to boost foreign investors’ confidence.” “The government should consider giving tax benefits for capital intensive infrastructure. The development of logistics parks across the country for speedy delivery is also the need of the hour. Logistics parks will help provide services and facilities to reduce costs, boost efficiency and improve the flow of both raw material procurement and finished goods. The sector is also in need of skilled labour. The government should look at allocating funds for education and skill development in this area as this will be of great help to all logistics players,” he continues. “With the current demonetisation move, the industry and the common man at large have high expectations of lowering tax rates and reviving positive sentiments in the economy. Besides, it would be interesting to see what the budget has in store to boost the manufacturing sector and pump up the rural economy. Reforms in this direction are a ready welcome for the logistics industry,” stresses Tulsiani.

Chander Agarwal, Managing Director, TCIEXPRESS, shares, “Timely implementation of GST would result in absorption of various taxes involved in transportation of goods and services and will increase efficiency in our operations. Last year, Rs 2.31 lakh crore was announced to be invested in infrastructure, which shows the importance of upgrading infrastructure. Hence, will look forward to some emphasis on improving the infrastructure this year as well as it is a boon not only for express delivery players but many industries. Thirdly, with the recent implementation of demonetisation, the industry is moving towards a digital and cashless mode of transaction. Hence, more incentives for every cashless transaction are expected. This will motivate increased adoption towards technology. Lastly, it will be interesting to look forward to more schemes under Make in India, Skill India, and Digital India initiatives.”

At least six new mega ports have been cleared to be built under the ambitious Sagarmala Project, taken up by the Ministry of Shipping. The National Perspective Plan (NPP) for the much talked about project envisions these new infrastructural facilities as part of its multi-pronged strategy to enhance India’s cargo handling capacity. The Ministry of Shipping’s project, that aims to modernise India’s ports, is estimated to save up to Rs 40,000 crore per year spent on logistics by key industries. The new ports will also boost up coastal shipping, thus decreasing the dependence on transportation through railways and roadways. This is likely to cut down the inland transportation costs by up to 80 percent. Presently the country has 12 major ports.

As per Maersk Line, India maintained its strong trading position with the United Kingdom (UK) registering a 6 per cent year on year growth in EXIM container trade volumes for the first half of 2016. This despite a 2 per cent decline in the UK’s EXIM container trade volumes with the rest of the world during the same period. The full year container trade volume growth forecast for 2016 is expected to slightly lower at four to five per cent, but better than the three per cent growth witnessed in 2015. In terms of overall trade, India ranks 3rd on EXIM trade volumes with the UK with a share of six per cent behind China (38 per cent) and USA (8 per cent).

Sri Lanka has invited Indian companies to participate in its port development projects and other infrastructure building programmes. Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister, Sri Lanka has discussed the prospects of Indian companies in building two to three Ports in Sri Lanka in his meeting with Nitin Gadkari, Union Shipping and TransPort Minister. The Sri Lankan Prime Minister wants Indian companies to develop a few Ports in Sri Lanka including Colombo Port. Gadkari conveyed his willingness to partner and cooperate in developing their Port and other infrastructure, a Road TransPort Ministry official informed. Indian subcontinent is playing a vital role in the business of Colombo Port accounting for 70 to 75 per cent of its trans-shipment business. Earlier, Gadkari had said that India is set to build a sea-bridge and tunnel connecting Sri Lanka and the Asian Development Bank is ready to fully finance a bridge building project connecting Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka.

The shipping ministry has acknowledged 37 of the recently notified 106 inland waterways to develop them for transport of cargo and passengers in the next two to three years. These include rivers in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Assam and West Bengal. “Eight of these waterways have high potential and are financially viable for development. We have already initiated works for developing these waterways. The rest will be taken up in the next two phases,” said, Amitabh Verma, Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).

CaroTrans has announced a new direct weekly LCL service from Atlanta to Nhava Sheva, India. This service is aimed to address increased demand from the U.S. Southeast and Gulf regions. The service offers 38 days transit times from the Gulf and 33 days from Southeast. At destination, shipments are securely handled and deconsolidated by Globelink WW India (CaroTrans’ dedicated partner) which provides full India market penetration serviced from 15+ inland container depots. “Flexible, direct LCL services provide logistics service providers with secure, consistent transportation options to serve the varying needs of their customers. We’re committed to delivering reliable U.S.-India trade LCL services,” said Greg Howard, CaroTrans, CEO.

Transindia Logistics, part of Allcargo Logistics has bagged the contract to manage and operate Central Warehousing Corporation’s (CWC) Container Freight Station (CFS) in Mundra, Gujarat. The CFS facility is located in close proximity to an existing CFS operated by Allcargo. With 40 acres of sprawling space, Transindia is poised to transform the way operations are conducted in Mundra. Adarsh Hegde, Joint Managing Director, Allcargo Logistics, said, “Our growth strategy for CFS business lead to the acquisition of Transindia Logistics a few years ago. We are glad to expand our operations with our second facility in Mundra, which is set to transform the business scenario. Coupled with the highest safety and security standards, our customers can expect speedy turnaround, expertise in handling business operations in the western region of India hereon.”

“Currently in India we have achieved approx 50 per cent containerisation and eventually we need to reach the level of 70-80 per cent which the developed countries have already achieved. The size of multimodal logistics for EXIM cargo in India is approx four million TEUs, we have had 18 continuous months of drop in exports, however the ports volumes are marginally up by four per cent, which means that there is an increase in imports. Hence, the current growth rate is apex two per cent which is likely to increase in coming years,” says, Vivek Kele, President, AMTOI.