Cover Story however , still lag behind Cai Mep , Ningbo , Singapore and Yangshan when measured by PMH .
There also can be a wide divide in the performance of private and publicly run ports , with the former meeting higher safety , environmental and efficiency standards , according to a veteran marine terminal operator familiar with port operations in India . Public ports can also enjoy stronger rail support than their private counterparts , while those private ports with Indian origins are able to navigate the market better , said the terminal operator , who asked not to identified .
India ’ s port connectivity networks also still need much shoring up to support an expanding manufacturing landscape , while New Delhi has over the past years prioritized harbor improvements through private participation with the Adani Group leading the pack .
On the landside , long-delayed dedicated rail corridors designed to connect northern hinterlands to ports on the east and west coasts are building some excitement among container train operators fighting to draw more freight away from road haulers .
Being an all-broad-gauge network , freight-only connectors , which are nearing full-scale operations in stretches , boast train speeds up to 100 km per hour . That would enable trains to make the Mundra – North India trip in about four days versus five days or longer using conventional routes . The dedicated trains would also allow for larger loads .
Notwithstanding the efficiency gaps on a broader comparative basis , cargo flows in and out of major Indian ports are generally brisk , thanks in large part to digital solutions and growing intra-port competition for market share amid muted demand conditions .
That effort has yielded positive results , shortening average container dwell times to three days and trimming the time spent by a ship to turn around to less than a day , on average , according to the World Bank ’ s 2023 global logistics performance report .
Adani ’ s flagship Mundra is an outlier among Indian ports in its ability to handle mega-ships , driving volumes up 12 % year over year to 7.4 million TEUs in the fiscal year 2023 – 24 that ended in March . Nhava Sheva , once the market leader , increased volumes 6 % to 6.4 million TEUs . For the near term , India has some surplus container capacity in hand , roughly 32 million to 33 million TEUs , against 20 million TEUs handled nationwide .
Those numbers are in no way comparable to the mammoth volumes passing through Shanghai or Ningbo , but the emerging economy is creating multiple tailwinds to transform the market from an underrated attraction to one on which carriers can bet firmly .
The United Nations on April 4 reported that India ’ s economy expanded at a 6.8 % clip in fiscal year 2023 and unemployment was at a 12-year low . Indian manufacturing activity as measured by the S & P Global purchasing managers ’ index hit a 16-year high in March , with the index rising to a reading of 59.1 , and capped 33 months of increased production .
But as India advances its manufacturing scale and prowess , it must “ reduce its reliance on transshipment services via hubs such as Singapore and Hong Kong to help manufacturers avoid lengthy transit times ,” according to S & P Global ’ s August report , “ Look Forward : India ’ s Moment .” For India to reach its economic potential , manufacturing more of the goods and moving them more efficiently must be in lockstep .
email : mark . szakonyi @ spglobal . com email : bencymathew @ gmail . com
US imports from India have doubled over the last decade , with East Coast ports reaping the largest gains . Shutterstock . com
14 Journal of Commerce | April 22 , 2024 www . joc . com