The 6th edition of the Indian Ports
& Shipping International
conference was held on March
March17th & 18th, 2009 at Hotel
Taj President, Mumbai. It served
to focus on issues that could put the
maritime industry on the path to
recovery. Held by India's premier
organisation - the Bombay
Chamber of Commerce & Industry
- the deliberations centred round
the theme The Maritime Industry Catalyst for Economic Growth.
The event drew several players
T
he 6th edition of the
Indian Ports & Shipping
International conference
was held on March 17 & 18, 2009
at Hotel Taj President, Mumbai. It
served to focus on issues that could
put the maritime industry on the
path to recovery.
Held by India's premier
organisation - the Bombay
Chamber of Commerce & Industry
- the deliberations centred round
the theme The Maritime Industry Catalyst for Economic Growth.
The event drew several players
from the logistic and maritime
sector in the hope of finding some
ready solutions to help wriggle out
of the recessionary conduit.
There was a consensus that now
was the time to build capacity and
bring in efficiency. Infrastructure
development would ensure better
connectivity and help reduce cost.
As ship building, ship breaking,
dredging, offshore, inland and
coastal water tourism and transport,
manpower development, etc., was
seeing a significant growth there
was plenty of scope for investors.
“China has been able to sustain a
9% economic growth because it
gave importance to this sector,”
pointed out S. Hajara, chairman
and managing director of Shipping
Corporation of India (SCI) and
president of the Indian National
Shipowners' Association (INSA).
“In the present stage of economic
development, India's liner trade will
see a high growth area. The average
terminal capacity utilization at the
countr y's premier container
terminal viz. JNPT was 90% vis-àvis global average of 70% to 75%.
We need to create more capacity.”
“We need to develop capacity so
that we can operate at an acceptable
level of 70%,” concurred Dr Anup
Chanda, chairman of the Indian
Ports Association. “We must go in
for vertical expansion and not just
horizontal. Unless we develop the
coastal and inland waterways
connectivity we will have to
continue falling back on road and
rail transport which besides being
costly, cause pollution and
congestion.”
Capt Sandeep Mehta, CEO,
Mundra Port & SEZ Ltd, said,
“ The downtur n should be
considered as a time which is
offering a breathing space to bring
in to place the required
infrastructure so that when the next
spurt comes in we should not be
caught napping.”
“The multiplier effect of growth in
shipbuilding can create a total
investment of Rs 37,000 crores in
the Indian economy by 2012 and
around Rs 2,22,000 crore by
2017,” stated Vijay Kumar,
managing director of Bharati
Shipyard Ltd. and president of the
Shipyards Association of India.
“This can enhance the overall
economic output to around Rs
3,42,000 crore by 2017. Because
of the shortage of shipyards
capacity in India, the Indian Navy
will get a large number of vessels
constructed from outside India.
The Navy also plans to take over
the Hindustan Shipyard Ltd. The
coast guard too is looking to having
a large number of vessels
constructed which may happen in
foreign shipyards. Considering the