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Like last year, the CEO Forum, this year too, focussed on a topical subject dear to the industry – India’s Maritime Strategy: Challenges for the Next Decade. The discussion revolved around policy, financial and technological framework, industry expectations and the ascent up the value chain.


Panelists (L to R): MD of J M Baxi & Co – Krishna Kotak, Chairman of JNPT – S S Hussain, Editor Special Projects of CNBC TV18 – A B Ravi, Chairman and MD of Shipping Corporation of India - S Hajara, Senior VP and & MD of DP World Subcontinent - Capt Anil Singh and CMD of Dighi Port Vijay Kalantri deliberated on India’s maritime strategy in the next decade during the CEO Forum as part of Maritime Gateway’s annual event in Mumbai.

Snippets

Though we have the money to fund the projects, the policies stop us from going further. Today, the order is to stall all the port projects and hence even if we want to expand further berthing facilities, we cannot do so. Hence, there should be coordinated efforts to take this sector forward. The balance has to be brought in – whether it is development or the environment. AT JNPT we have lost 500 hectares of land for mangrove growth. We are, in fact, encouraging it. Therefore the government should adopt a coordinated approach towards the port development.

S. S. Hussain, Chairman, JNPT

Every crisis also brings opportunities. Today, in this situation, there are opportunities for the maritime sector. In every way, the Indian shipping and the entire maritime industry need to be augmented. We meet 70 per cent of energy requirements through imports. It has been conclusively proved that if the country’s maritime tonnage is developed, then the proportion of trade going to foreign vessels goes down and this will be a tremendous boost to export and import trade. I would say that this is the best time to do it because it would possibly be 30 per cent cheaper compared to the boom time period. Similarly in terms of ship valuations, the valuation has come down considerably across the segments by 20 to 30 per cent. So this is the best time to grow and India must take the advantage of the current situation and augment its infrastructure manifold like China did years back.

S. Hajara, Chairman and MD, Shipping Corporation of India

Today, government is not acting as a facilitator of ports. There is no experience at both the state and central government levels in terms of what a new port should be and what is needed for modern port development. Instead of putting the port development on the fast track, the government brings in a lot of regulations which ultimately delays the entire process. At present you have to run from pillar to post to get all the clearances and permissions to go ahead.
The government pretty well knows what the public and private sectors need. So, instead of the private players going to the government, why can’t the government come to the private? The government can look into the aspects of assistance to be provided to the private players in the development of the projects and proactively fulfill them as a preemptive measure. The catch here is that the government is also going to benefit from the project. The faster the project is executed, the faster the country can benefit from it. Gujarat, for instance, is one state where active government participation in this regard can be seen. Other states as well as the central government have to take cue.

Vijay Kalantri, Chairman and MD, Dighi Port

It is necessary to plan for the next thirty years rather than being consumed by the present events as we stand. The long term vision is lacking. Obviously, what is happening today in the maritime sector was planned sometime back in the past. Therefore, how we should be after 20 to 30 years, should be planned today.
In terms of performance, it is evident that the terminals in India are global-based. But being a global port in itself is not going to help the end customers – importers and exporters – who are the actual facilitators of trade. If the necessary things in the other parts of the chain are not functioning properly, the trade is going to suffer and the end customer is going to suffer.

Capt. Anil Singh, Senior VP and & MD, DP World Subcontinent

The connectivity cost in India is very high and this determines the global competitiveness of Indian supply chains. Let us say Rs.100 is the logistics cost from point A to point B. Of this, the shipping cost probably never exceeds 10 to 12 per cent. The port cost will not exceed another 12 to 15 per cent. But interestingly, the connectivity cost always exceeds 45 to 50 per cent minimum. It has to be made sure that if we want to be globally competitive, we should make sure that the connectivity costs are globally competitive. Therefore, the suggestion has been that ‘can our ministry become a logistics ministry where the various parts of transportation can become the legal components under this ministry.’

Krishna Kotak, Managing Director, J M Baxi & Co.