India makes logistics & maritime headway in 2023

Indian ports have shown efficiency with their ‘turn around time’ reaching a mere 0.9 days, outperforming several global counterparts including the US, Australia, and Singapore.

Parallelly, India's maritime sector is poised for a transformative journey with the launch of the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 during the Global Maritime India Summit. This comprehensive roadmap, formulated by the ministry of ports, shipping, and waterways (MoPSW), involves an investment of ₹80,000 lakh crore. It aims to develop world-class ports and promote inland water transport, coastal shipping, and a sustainable maritime sector. The vision, which builds on the Maritime India Vision 2030, encompasses over 300 actionable initiatives for enhancing ports, shipping, and waterways by 2047, and was shaped through extensive consultations and international benchmark analyses, MoPSW said in its year-end review.

The Global Maritime India Summit (GMIS) 2023, organised in Mumbai, was a landmark event, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This largest-ever summit saw participation from ministers of 10 foreign countries, delegations, business delegates, and exhibitors from 42 countries. The event was a catalyst for significant agreements, with the signing of 360 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) worth ₹8.35 lakh crore and additional investible projects of ₹1.68 lakh crore. The summit also laid the foundation for eleven projects totalling ₹14,440 crore, with eleven more projects valued at ₹8,924 crore dedicated to the nation.

In January 2023, the National Logistics Portal (Marine) was inaugurated, offering a one-stop platform for all stakeholders in the logistics community, integrating various modes of transport and aiming to enhance efficiency and transparency.

Another noteworthy development was the launch of 'Sagar Manthan', a comprehensive monitoring dashboard for the MoPSW. This digital platform, launched in March 2023, enables real-time monitoring of projects, KPIs, and financial and operational parameters.

The 19th Maritime State Development Council meeting, held in August 2023 in Gujarat, further emphasised India's commitment to achieving a 10,000 MTPA port capacity by 2047, establishing a Bureau of Port Security, and creating hydrogen hubs at Major Ports.

In terms of operational performance, India's major ports have shown significant improvement in the current financial year, handling 500.82 million tons of cargo, a 5.42 per cent increase from the previous year. Other operational parameters such as output per ship per day, vessel turnaround time, and pre-berthing detention of vessels have also registered remarkable improvements.

Complementing these developments, the inauguration of the National Centre of Excellence in Green Port and Shipping in March 2023 marked a stride towards steering the shipping industry and ports towards carbon neutrality and circular economy, in collaboration with MoPSW and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DP)