NEW DELHI: The Indian port sector plays a vital role in sustaining growth in the country’s trade and commerce. It also has an important role in fulfilling India’s dream of achieving greater global engagement and integration with its trading partners. Much of India’s port-led development initiative is expected to revolve around growth in maritime trade, given its share in terms of both volume and value in the country’s overall trade statistics.
Recognising the important role port-led development can play in India, the Central government has undertaken several initiatives such as development of new ports, modernisation and mechanisation of the existing ones, and reduction of logistics costs through the implementation of increased waterways transport. These are also in line with the vision of initiatives such as ‘Make in India’.
A recent study by the Bureau of Research on Industry and Economic Fundamentals (BRIEF) titled ‘Bridging Infrastructural Deficits at Select Trade Ports in India’ observed that seaports displayed specific patterns of issues based on differences in geography, infrastructural capacity, operational aspects, contractual arrangements, and so on. Such issues, though unique to certain ports, form important case studies for the Indian port sector as a whole. For instance, the Haldia Dock Complex in Haldia, West Bengal, being a riverine port, faces the natural challenge of heavy siltation and inadequate dredging capacities. Consistent reduction in draft over the years and widening differences in average drafts recorded during summers and winters highlight the importance of regular dredging, especially in the case of riverine ports.
The issue of semi-mechanisation and manual handling of critical processes having a cascading effect on overall operational efficiency is evident at another eastern port — the Paradip Port in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. The process of unloading from ships to evacuation through rakes entails the use of outdated equipment — cranes and grabs with low-evacuation capacity — and is impeded with operational glitches such as the process of manual loading of cargo on rakes. The Paradip example highlights the importance of complete mechanisation of processes to ensure seamless operations and thereby lower down vessel turnaround time.
Congestion at the approach roads is a common problem observed at quite a few Indian ports. However, this problem gets exemplified at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Maharashtra, the most important port serving northern India. The study findings report heavy congestion en route to the port as well as inside the port, leaving trucks stranded for days — with queues extending to as long as 12 km — thereby leading to inordinate delays and increased transaction costs.
