Centre to develop Bhavnagar as container manufacturing hub, expects Rs1000 crore investment from private players

The Centre is looking to develop Bhavnagar in Gujarat as a container hub and has set up pilot projects for its manufacturing, informs Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister. The initiative aimed at attaining self-reliance in container production eyes Rs 1,000 crore investment from private players and looks to create one lakh jobs. The move assumes significance amid reports of global shortages of containers with Indian containerised trade taking a hit owing to the staggered supply and demand shocks across geographies as per logistic majors. “India requires about 3.5 lakh containers every year. There is no container production in India and we have to depend mainly on China which is a global producer. Now we want to develop Bhavnagar in Gujarat as a container hub and we have selected 10 places there for its production on a pilot basis,” Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told PTI.
The pilot project has been successful, he said.
Mandaviya said the Ministry of shipping during the last six months has taken several initiatives to encourage container production at Bhavnagar with the help of re-rolling and furnace makers who are being encouraged to diversify in the space. We expect private players to invest about Rs 1,000 crore in this space. We also expect creation of one lakh local jobs.
The intiative has been taken to realise the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, he said.
“We have formed a committee to look into the finer details like standardisation, certification etc. The committee comprises experts from Ministry of Shipping, IRS (Indian Register of Shipping), IITs etc,” Mandaviya said.
Mandaviya said in days to come, India will start production which will be consumed by ship liners.