Ports in a storm

The home ministry and related security services are reportedly sitting on the clearances needed to start work on half of the major port development projects that the shipping ministry was counting on to happen this year. The endless requirements for clearances have been repeatedly cited as a problem in getting sufficient investment done in this country; and now,it appears that even major projects,in the area of Indias infrastructure identified as the most deficient by the Planning Commission,will be held up in this manner.

Major ports in India are a mess. A recent report from the relevant parliamentary standing committee was unequivocal: the modernisation and expansion proposals for all major ports need to be expedited,and all projects must be completed in time. Indias ports are the point at which 95 per cent of Indias external trade happens; and international shipping lines have repeatedly complained they are among the worst and most dilatory in the world,and will even be too small in some cases to handle newer container ships. Turnaround time in Indian ports was 4.5 days in 2010-11; it has actually increased over the past decade. The comparisons are stark: the average dwell time for containers here is 1.88 days for imports and 3.78 days for exports; in Singapore,its 0.6 days. These are costs passed straight on to Indian companies,driving up the price of inputs,feeding the apparently uncontrollable,sourceless inflation the government keeps on complaining about.

If UPA 2 were serious about tackling inflation,it wouldnt bemoan the fact that we have become dependent on inputs from the outside world,and world prices have gone up. It would accept Indias poor connectivity adds crucial percentage points to those prices,which Indias end-consumers and voters can ill afford. Yet,even though the shipping ministry was tasked with clearing 22 projects this year,of which only eight were new,the remainder were undone in previous years the rest of the government has lagged behind shamefully. Indias ports,and its consumers,deserve better.