Eastern ports in India, which have traditionally lagged behind the western ones, are gaining in importance in recent years with the Government’s Look East policy and the growing trade with China, the Philippines, Indonesia and other Asian economies, according to maritime experts.
They were speaking at the inaugural of the two-day East Coast Maritime Business Summit here on Thursday. The summit was organised by Maritime Gateway , a Hyderabad-based magazine.
Kolkata Port Trust Chairman R.P.S Kahlon said that according to the survey conducted by KPMG, the share of the western ports in the total cargo handled by major ports would fall to 66 per cent from the present 77 per cent by 2014 and the 11 percentage points would be gained by the eastern ports.
Kahlon is also in-charge of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust.
He said two major ports were coming up on the east coast — one at Sagar island in West Bengal and the other at Dugarajapatnam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.
Anil K. Gupta, CMD of Concor, said the eastern ports would have to cover a lot of ground in containerisation and the right kind of conditions would have to be created for the purpose.
He said that the Container Corporation of India (Concor) had handled 2.6 million TEUs last year and during the present plan period, the corporation would build 15 more terminals at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore.
Nine of the terminals would be linked to the eastern ports, he said, adding that the logistical cost would have to be brought down substantially in the country.
Dhruv Kotak, Director of J.M Baxi group, said there should be relaxation from cabotage rules at Visakhapatnam as at Vallarpadam terminal to develop Vizag as a container hub. Rail route rationalisation was another step urgently required, he added.
K.K Sinha, CEO of Essar Ports Ltd, said the tariff regulations by the TAMP should be relaxed, as otherwise the investment would not flow into the public sector major ports.