L. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Chairman JNPT graced the occasion
MUMBAI: All India Association of Industries (AIAI) and World Trade Centre (WTC) organized a Open House trade meet on 'Trade Facilitation' on Tuesday, November 27 at World Trade Centre.
Mr. L. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) graced the occasion. Also present were Mr. Y R Warekar, Executive Director, WTC Mumbai, Mr. Yogendra Garg, Commissioner of Customs (Export), Mumbai, Mr. Vijay Kalantri, AIAI President and Vice Chairman, WTC Mr. Amarnath Mishra, Joint Director General of Foreign Trade and Mr. S G Bandhare Deputy Director, Directorate General of Shipping.
Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman of WTC Mumbai and President of AIAI, in his welcome address said, Trade Facilitation is one of the important vehicles of economic prosperity and trade stimulates economic activity, provides employment and creates wealth which is needed to run an economy, so trade is of vital importance to both the Government, port community and private sectors.
He stressed, ports play an important role in trade and commerce, in terms of the connectivity they provide when located in close proximity with trade centres, local producers, coastal industrial base and the vast hinterland. Inefficient infrastructure in terms of road and rail connectivity and the high cost of dredging are some issues that need to be given top priority to facilitate quicker and efficient development of ports,” he added.
He expressed serious concern and said that the Government should bring down transaction costs to boost exports. Exports have fallen by 20% and manufacturing sector is not doing well. “We need to achieve our export target to facilitate trade for better prospects of growth”.
Addressing the trade meet, Mr. L Radhakrishnan thanked the World Trade Centre for providing him the opportunity to interact with the trade. He added, the logistics cost in India is higher than developed economies. The development of larger container terminals and the need for faster execution of port projects remain a challenge.
The port construction sector is highly capital intensive and is an integral part of the overall service sector. Thus, the efficiency of the logistics is vital in determining a port's collective and the resulting profitability.
Keeping in mind the strong economic growth of India, and the significant role port upgrade and construction can play in furthering this advancement-this sector holds huge potential and offers excellent investment opportunities.
Indian ports will emerge as key facilitators and accelerators in global marine trade. At present, the sector speaks of a number of investment opportunities, as well as numerous port construction projects that are in the pipeline.
As far as JNPT is concerned, the Port currently has handled 4.3 million TEUs, which represents more than 50% of the total quantity of containers handled by Indian ports.
We expect to increase by 4.5 million TEUs this year. JNPT plans to double its capacity, from 4.3 million TEUs or 20-ft equivalent units now, to even handle the current demand.
We expect to increase our handling capacity to 10.5 million TEUs in next five years.
Deepening of the port from the current 10.5m to over 14m will help in accommodating vessels of over 6,000 TEUs capacity and up to 12m draught vessels at all states of tide, as well as increasing the annual port capacity by about 10 million TEUs. JNPT has been working on over 100% capacity and the demand far outstrips supply in terms of port handling capacity. We are planning to aggressively expand the existing bulk/break and general cargo capacities. He emphasized that JNP for the first time plans PPP project for dredging. Tata Consultancy will take care of the technical aspects of the project. There are lot of improvements in overall sectors but still there are problems in middle and lower level as Mr. Kalantri informed. We will implement and overcome soon .
