Stuck in this bottleneck: 5,000 cr

At a time when policy-makers are busy policing scrap imports, the country8217;s largest port is facing a bottleneck crisis that has put on ...

At a time when policy-makers are busy policing scrap imports, the country8217;s largest port is facing a bottleneck crisis that has put on hold, according to industry estimates, upto Rs 5,000 crore of trade.

Thanks to poor planning, clogged roads and a private-public partnership gone terribly wrong, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust JNPT is in a serious mess.

As the private terminal8212;Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal NSICT, owned by Australian port major P038;O8212;slugs it out with the state-run port, India8217;s much-touted ports story is in jeopardy.

Ask Rajesh Kakani, who is living an export manager8217;s nightmare.

For the last 45 days, Balkrishna Industries Ltd has 150 containers filled with rubber tyres parked at JNPT. Apart from incurring a cost of Rs 50 lakh a month on detention and demurrage charges, what Kakani really dreads is a call from clients in Europe and the US.

8216;8216;We are now getting warning signals that our order will be cancelled. We have cut down on production and exports by 20 per cent. That8217;s a loss of Rs 6 crore per month,8217;8217; says Kakani.

Uttam Guin, a logistics manager with India8217;s largest exporter, Reliance Industries, adds, 8216;8216;Our exports will get hit if this congestion continues.8217;8217;

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According to the latest Economic Survey, JNPT8217;s average turnaround time 8212; time taken for a vessel to arrive in port, unload, reload, and depart 8212; is a relatively healthy 37 hours national average: 3.5 days. The average container vessal turnaround time in Singapore is 12 hours, the international benchmark is 24 hours.

But as things stand now, there are no bets on the turnaround time at JNPT, which accounts for over half of India8217;s container traffic.

nbsp;	ROUGH SAILING

		nbsp;	8226; No proper roads despite heavy traffic 8226; Poor container-handling equipment 8226; Lack of rail rakes, power 8226; No public transport facility 8226; Lack of security 8226; Bottlenecks at terminal, CFS gates	nbsp;

8216;8216;You have to come here to believe the mess the government has created,8217;8217; fumes Jimmy Sarbh, Chairman of NSICT, whose landlord and main competitor JNPT operates the other terminal. 8216;8216;The roads are clogged just outside our terminal. The container freight stations are bursting to the seams and we are losing crores as we are unable to cater to growing export traffic.8217;8217;

In short, busy catering to a surge in imports and unable to meet the October-February peak demand of exports, NSICT8217;s terminal 8212; which used to have a 21-hour turnaround time 8212; is hit. 8216;8216;We have set up task forces between JNPT and NSCIT for better coordination,8217;8217; says JNPT Chairman Ravi Buddhiraja.

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Joining the blame game is the Container Corporation of India Concor, which says NSICT8217;s infrastructure cannot match the increase in capacity. 8216;8216;There is no co-ordination between both JNPT and NSICT. We can only provide the wagons, the number of lines are the same,8217;8217; says A K Kohli, Concor8217;s managing director.

Just four months ago, in the Economic Survey, the government highlighted the 8216;8216;impressive8217;8217; rate of progress in India8217;s ports sector. Attention was lavished on the NSICT-JNPT experience. Set up in 1999 at a cost of Rs 900 crore, NSICT handled 12.3 lakh TEUs of containers in 2003-04 8212; double of its minimum commitment in 2004-05.

Ports handle 90 per cent of India8217;s exports. Container traffic, in particular, has been growing by a sharp 15 per cent per annum over the past five years. But JNPT 8212; which has been 8216;8216;inhibited by inflexibility in decision making8217;8217; 8212; has not been corporatised it is managed by the Major Ports Trust Act, 1963

Nikhil Gandhi, Chairman of India8217;s first private port in Pipapav at Gujarat, says privatisation is the answer. 8216;8216;JNPT must immediately develop two more berth through two differnt operators and additional third terminal should be planned before 2009. Long-term vision is required for the Indian ports sector not piecemeal solutions,8217;8217; say he.

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JNPT8217;s third terminal 8212; managed by Danish shipping firm Maersk in association with Container Corporation of India Concor 8212; will be operational in a couple of years8217; time.

The government says it is aware of the problem 8212; but any solutions will take time. 8216;8216;While traffic in JNPT has grown, the capacity hasn8217;t grown in a similar magnitude, resulting in a mismatch,8217;8217; says D T Joseph, Shipping Secretary. 8216;8216;Capacity has to grow and we have to distribute the traffic. The third terminal for JNPT will be operational in 24 months and a fourth one is also being planned.8217;8217;

But with an ambitious exports target of 300 billion by 2015, it8217;s obvious the economy cannot afford to miss its port of call.