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