India's move towards being a transshipment hub.

Since its independence, India has maintained a passive approach toward the global economy and has always been fearful of opening its maritime boundaries to foreign powers. As a result, we were late in entering the maritime sector and suffered significant setbacks.

However, some new government policies have given us an opportunity to grow in this sector. India has launched an audacious project to build a transshipment port in the Nicobar Islands. According to the ministry, "India would draw Indian and regional transshipment traffic from the current hubs, which will save significant revenue loss and reduce logistics inefficiency for Indian trade. It will also lower risks to the country's export competitiveness, and provide an opportunity for India to develop into a large hub for Asia-African, Asian-US/Europe container traffic trade."

Currently, Colombo, Singapore, and Port Klang handle the vast majority of India's transshipment freight, accounting for almost 75 % of all cargo handled outside of India. This will save Indian ports $200 million to $220 million per year.

The ministry is also expecting substantial benefits such as forex savings, foreign direct investment, increased economic activity at other Indian ports, improved logistic infrastructure and thus efficiencies, job creation, and higher revenue share.

?The first part of this massive project is expected to be completed by 2028 at a cost of $5 billion. This port is anticipated to be 4 million teu by phase one, increasing to 16 million teu when the terminal achieves full capacity.

?This could be a game changer for India's maritime trade, opening up new possibilities for students interested in the maritime sector. This will also give India the opportunity to stop transporting products in bulk and instead switch to containers, which will help to improve the quality of the Indian maritime industry.

Article by : Vignesh H Nambiar