Ports in India: Need a better regulatory framework

Although pace of infrastructure development in India has been slow, the pace of infrastructure target announcement has not restrained. In January 2010, the Shipping Ministry announced ‘Maritime Agenda for 2011-20.’

While the agenda has 60 points, there still remains ambiguity on the amount and timelines in certain cases. Also, there are certain structural issues causing hurdles in rapid development of ports in India.

Singapore Port has surpassed the Indian ports by leaps and bounds. A quick comparison of Indian ports vis-a-vis the port in Singapore.

	Major Indian Ports	Singapore
Evacuation System	Manual	Automatic flow –through gate system
Vessel Evacuation rate (Containers/hr)	40	100
Turnaround Time (days)	1.77	0.5
Level of Mechanisation	Is limited and cargo is mainly handled by conventional means.	Is very high and sophisticated with infusion of latest technology in every sphere of handling of cargo.
	JNPT	PSA Singapore
Total number of terminals for handling Containers	3 terminalsWith a linear Quay length of 1992 meters, adequate for 9 vessels at a time.	4 terminalsWith a linear Quay length of 11,754 meters, adequate for 41 container vessels at a time.
Expansion of area	Is dependent on acquisition of landThe area behind the JNPT terminal is fraught with land acquisition and resettlement/rehabilitation problems.	Is not dependent on acquisition of landExpansion of terminals is done by reclamation of land from sea which is costly.

If India wants to improve its share in global cargo tonnage (from 6% currently to 9% by 2020), structural issues like delay in land acquisition & environmental clearances need to be addressed.