CII to transform industry

Taking a step towards transforming the industry, CII’s Maritime, Ports, Logistics & Warehousing exhibition and conclave 2017 held in Mumbai outdid itself this year by raising pertinent issues that are hampering the sector’s growth.

November has been a great month for the sector with all the announcements including getting the industry status. This has been our demand for a very long time. We also heard that a logistics desk has been set up under the Ministry of Commerce. Finally, we will have a nodal entity who will string all of us together and hopefully we will see all the changes that we have been asking for. India has been at the forefront of the trade facilitation agreement. Between CII, FFFAI, Customs, ASSOCHAM and FIEO we have done more than 30 contact programmes across India to educate people about this. Samir Shah DDP Game Changer 2017 & Conclave Chairman & Partner, JBS Group

Today, we are at six per cent of our GDP but we are not a competitive country cost-wise. Moreover, most of the minor ports have connectivity issues. The second issue we face is about funding. We saw one more notification that the logistics sector now has the infrastructure status and will receive all the benefits of this. There are more than 37 permissions that are required. We don’t have a single-window clearance. This year, we will grow at 6.7 per cent. If we want to grow at 7.5 per cent, we will need 20 more ports. Most ports in India are operating at 100-110 per cent capacity, while world over it is at 60 per cent. Vijay Kalantri Chairman & MD Dighi Port

For the Sagarmala Project, we understand our role well. Ports are not confining only to loading and unloading of cargo. Whether it is a multi-model logistics park to be set up, setting up SEZ in the port area, or creating a new route, we are looking at how to promote the coastal areas. JNPT is coming up with a new coastal berth dedicated to coastal cargo which probably no private player will do. Ports have worked out total demand until 2025. Ports are taking a lead in creating more value. We are trying to unlock capacity without investing anything. Neeraj Bansal Deputy Chairman Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust

To meet the increasing demand for EXIM trade, which will rise in proportion to the fast-growing Indian economy, the port-led development model focuses on energising the coastal economy and the infrastructure development by modernising our ports and integrating them with SEZ’s port-based smart cities, industrial parks, warehouses, logistics parks and transport corridors. There is an immediate need for remedial measures to prevent further decline of exports.. Khalid Khan Regional Chairman, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (Western Region) & Director Geco Trading Corporation

The biggest threat today is a slowdown of investment and about 4.5 per cent growth in port traffic. The biggest thing we see emerge now is innovation and birth of new ideas. This can be a great threat but it can also be a great opportunity. What we see is the emergence of the renewables, the electric vehicles, hyperloops, robotics, drones, emergence of products of Uber, etc. We need to increase traffic in the rail and port sector. This will happen only by making these routes flexible and hassle-free. Ease of accessibility and ease of doing business is important. Rajiv Agarwal Managing Director & CEO Essar Port

Under the Sagarmala Project, 33

`3,261 projects worth crore have been completed in the last one year. Twenty-three projects under

`967 port augmentation worth crore are going on. Eight projects under port connectivity worth `2183

crore are going on. Sagarmala has very big plans. Under port connectivity, a new corporation has been set up - Port, Road, Railway Corporation – headquartered in Mumbai. They have already started 57 projects. Under port-led development, a very serious SEZ project is going on at JNPT, at Kandla and Paradip. Sanjay Bhatia Chairman Mumbai Port Trust