CargoTalk

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Cargo talk SOUTH ASIA’S LEADING CARGO MONTHLY No.1 in Circulation & Readership MAY 2013 Postal Reg. No.: DL (ND)-11/6002/2013-14-15. WPP No.: U (C)-272/2013-15, for posting on 25th-26th of advance month at New Delhi P.S.O. RNI No.: DELENG/2003/10642 Date of Publication: 22/4/2013 Vol XIII No.6 Pages 60 Rupees 50 cargotalk.in By DDP Publications Krishnapatnam Port all set with world standard container terminal PLUS ASSOCHAM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DEDICATED FREIGHT CORRIDORS HIGHLIGHTS Sohar Freezone in Oman woos Indian logistics companies Warehousing Issues Ease in land acquisition urged Hub Port on East Coast

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CargotalkSOUTH ASIA’S LEADING CARGO MONTHLY

No.1 in Circulation & ReadershipMAY 2013

Postal Reg. No.: DL (ND)-11/6002/2013-14-15. WPP No.: U (C)-272/2013-15,for posting on 25th-26th of advance month at New Delhi P.S.O.

RNI No.: DELENG/2003/10642 Date of Publication: 22/4/2013

Vol XIII No.6Pages 60

Rupees 50cargotalk.in

By DDP Publications

Krishnapatnam Port all set with world standard container terminal

PLUS ASSOCHAM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DEDICATED FREIGHT CORRIDORS HIGHLIGHTS

Sohar Freezone in Omanwoos Indian logistics companies

Warehousing IssuesEase in land acquisition urged

Hub Port onEast Coast

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CargotalkSOUTH ASIA’S LEADING CARGO MONTHLY

No.1 in Circulation & Readership

MAY 2013Postal Reg. No.: DL (ND)-11/6002/2013-14-15. WPP No.: U (C)-272/2013-15,

for posting on 25th-26th of advance month at New Delhi P.S.O.

RNI No.: DELENG/2003/10642

Date of Publication: 22/4/2013

Vol XIII No.6

Pages 60

Rupees 50

cargotalk.in

By DDP Publications

Krishnapatnam Port all set with world standard container terminal

PLUS ASSOCHAM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON DEDICATED FREIGHT CORRIDORS HIGHLIGHTS

Sohar Freezone in Omanwoos Indian logistics companies

Warehousing IssuesEase in land acquisition urged

Hub Port onEast Coast

editorial

SanJeetEditor

DDP Publications Private LimitedNEW DELHI: 72 Todarmal Road, New Delhi – 110001, India.Tel.: +91 11 23731971, 23710793, 23716318, Fax: +91 11 23351503, E-mail: [email protected], Website: www.cargotalk.in

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CARGOTALK is a publication of DDP Publications Private Limited. All information in CARGOTALK is derived from sources, which we consider reliable and a sincere ef-fort is made to report accurate information. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. The publisher regrets that he cannot accept liability for er-rors and omissions contained in this publication, however caused. Similarly, opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract and/or in interviews are not necessarily shared by CARGOTALK. However, we wish to advice our readers that one or more recognized authorities may hold different views than those reported. Material used in this publication is intended for information purpose only. Readers are advised to seek specific advice before acting on information contained in this publication which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular cir-cumstances. Contents of this publication are copyright. No part of CARGOTALK or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publication in writing. The same rule applies when there is a copyright or the article is taken from another publication. An exemption is hereby granted for the extracts used for the purpose of fair review, provided two copies of the same publication are sent to us for our records. Publications reproducing material either in part or in whole, without permission could face legal action. The publisher assumes no responsibility for returning any material solicited or unsolicited nor is he responsible for material lost or damaged. This publication is not meant to be an endorsement of any specific product or services offered. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw, amend or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian and International Advertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any damage or loss caused by delayed publication, error or failure of an advertisement to appear. CARGOTALK is printed & published by SanJeet on behalf of DDP Publications Private Limited. and is printed at Cirrus Graphics Pvt. Ltd., B-62/14, Phase-2, Naraina Industrial Area, New Delhi – 110028 and is published from 72 Todarmal Road, New Delhi – 110001.

EditorSANJEET

Sr. Assistant EditorRATAN KUMAR PAULAsst. Vice President

GUNJAN SABIKHIDeputy General Manager

HARSHAL ASHARRegional Head: North & West

SHIV KUMARAssistant Manager: West

ROLAND DIASAssistant Manager Marketing

YOGITA BHURANISr. Marketing Co-ordinator

GAGANPREET KAURDesign

RUCHI SINHAPhoto JournalistSIMRAN KAUR

Advertisement DesignerVIKAS MANDOTIA

Production ManagerANIL KHARBANDA

Circulation ManagerASHOK RANA

Cargotalk

T he issue of availability of land and acquisition of the same is a serious concern in view of the fact there

is tremendous demand for organised and quality warehouses in India. Indian manufacturers, shippers and logistics players often face huge challenges because of paucity of world standard warehouses. And, lack of suitable land and stringent rules and regulations to acquire it remain the major facts behind slow growth of warehousing industry in the country. Recently, two initiatives were undertaken pertaining to supply of land likely to boost the industry. The initiatives include an apparent consensus to stop the impasse on the ‘Land Reform Bill’ and relaxation in the existing SEZ policy, announced in the Foreign Trade Policy Supplement for 2013-14.

The gravity of poor warehousing infrastructure can be perceived from some recent research. It is estimated that warehousing costs to be between 20-25 per cent of the total logistics cost in India. Despite this the state of warehousing in India is largely dismal. About 80-85 per cent of warehouses are traditional with sizes of less than 10,000 sqft. Majority of the local operators of these warehouses are also small to mid-sized entrepreneurs with limited investment capacity. The only really large warehousing owners are government agencies including Central Warehousing Corporation and State Warehousing Corporations, but the focus of a significant majority of government warehouses is food grain storage. A research on supply chain systems in India unveiled that while regional distribution centers promise greater efficiency and

effectiveness, few facilities in India today could fit the demand side. Called ‘godowns’, most Indian warehouses owned by multinational companies are small in size—between 5,000 and 25,000 sqft—compared to the 250,000- to 1-million sqft structures found in the United States or Western Europe. Existing Indian warehouses tend to be located close to a customer base and carry only enough inventories to serve those customers. Keeping in mind the issues related to land acquisition, most companies entering India and adopting a regional network model consider a partnership with a third-party logistics company that already has a warehouse or land on which it can build a facility.

The manufacturing and logistics industry can only expect the required investment in warehousing once the ambiguity and disputes regarding land acquisition stop. In addition, the amended SEZ rules were a long pending demand from the warehousing sector. The initiatives taken by various political parties and the Commerce & Industry Minister of India are commendable. Now, fast and transparent implementation will be the factors the industry needs to watch out for.

Two steps forward forwarehousing

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ContentsMay 2013

SECTORS

National News8 CRWC to promote Express freight

trains across India

10 Foreign Trade Policy 2013:

Exporters hail for growth oriented

steps

International Events12 Worldwide Marathon: Bollore

Logistic’s innovative ways for a

cause

14 Chapman and Lufthansa sign

strategic cooperation agreement

Product Display16 Rolling Shutters: Quality

Engineered

Industry Associations22 UPLIFT by ACAAI and Kale:

registers one million EDI messages

Abhijeet Logistics receives WCA

Award

48 Dedicated Freight Corridors:

Railway Minister updates

construction status

Events Calendar32 Calendar of International logistics

events

Logistics Services40 Supreme Industries recognised

for ‘INSUboard’ with ACREX

Award

Freight Forwarding42 Air Freight Consolidation: AMI

opens office to strengthen

operations in India

Shipping & Ports43 LCL Logistix launches CFS in

Haldia Port

ICTT Cochin receives first

transshipment marine service

Far East–India Express calls Port

Pipavav

51 The Port of Dunkerque Zooms in

on India as source market

In Focus

54 Destination Oman: Freezone Sohar

woos Indian 3PL companies

COLUMNS

Lead Story24 Warehousing Issues: Industry urges

for ease in land acquisition and

regulations

Guest Column44 Intermodal Transport: Emergence

of new horizons

In Conversation47 CTOs seek friendly policy: to survive

the testing times

Viewpoint58 Role of Associations: Competition

Compliance Programme

The ambitious container terminal of Krishnapatnam Port Company Limited (KPCL) has recently been dedicated to the Nation by Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at a ceremonial function, which was attended by the port officials and a large number of government and industry representatives. The terminal is expected to position the port as a transshipment hub for exim cargo on the east coast of India.

18COVER STORY

Hub Port on East CoastKrishnapatnam all set with world standard container terminal

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‘DHL Express Easy’ accelerates mango movement DHL has stareted its seasonal service offering – ‘DHL Express

Easy’ for transporting mangoes across the world. With an objective to offer a hassle-free solution for customers gifting

mangoes to family and friends the service will continue till end of May. The service includes selecting the best quality certified Devgadh Alphonso mangoes; dedicated packaging; relevant documentation for the destination countries; customs clearance; and finally a doorstep delivery to the receiver.

According to RS Subramanian, Country Head, DHL Express India, this year the offer is open to all small, medium and corporate customers across the country. Once an order is placed, mangoes are chosen on the basis of transit and clearance time required, so that the fruits are ‘ripe-in-time’ when they reach their respective destinations. The mango gift packs are connected via the first available flight and are cleared on arrival. “This unique service allows customers to send mangoes from India across the world to Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Maldives, Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Qatar, Singapore and Sweden,” he said.

CRWC has developed and operates Railside Warehouses across the country on Railway land with

attached facilities and full train rail-siding. At present the public sector company has total warehouse capacity of over 3 lakh metric tonne. According to its study, there is a huge scope of operating express cargo trains by the CRWC warehouses.

With an aim to enhance express cargo movement by Railway CRWC recently hosted an interactive meeting with the leading logistics companies and representatives from Railway Board. Apart from Vinod Asthana, MD, CRWC and a number of logistics logistics

companies the Railway Board members included Manoj Akhouri, EDTT(F), Railway Board.; Rita Raj, Director (FM), Railway Board and Sanjeev Garg, CCM (FM), Northern Railway participated in the interactive session.

The logistics companies expressed their keenness in moving cargo/parcel through the rail and they appreciated the advantages available at the CRWC warehouses. The participants also discussed about specific routes for operations including the long tenure to be provided for marketing and development of these routes. Railways representatives assured the reliability of service in this segment.

National NewsIn Brief

CRWC to promoteExpress freight trains across India Central Railside Warehouse Company (CRWC) has decided to promote express/parcel freight trains by using the existing railside warehouse complexes. The Company is working on providing integrated logistics solutions by developing adequate infrastructure.

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Commending the Foreign Trade Policy 2013 initiatives M Rafeeque Ahmed, President, FIEO said that the

extension of Zero Duty EPCG Scheme will help in expansion and modernisation of the units which is need of the hour. The Policy has also given a boost to domestic sourcing for spurring manufacturing growth by providing relaxation in export obligation on domestic procurement of capital goods.

He also maintained, “The pragmatic announcement on SEZ by reducing the land requirement by 50 per cent and linking it to built up area will renew the interest in SEZ scheme but some concession on tax front needs to be given to SEZ units to make it an engine of growth added.”

In view of the acute difficulties in aggregating large tracts of uncultivable land for setting up SEZs, while ensuring vacancy and contiguity, the government has decided to reduce the Minimum Land Area Requirement by half. For Multi-product SEZ from 1000 hectares to 500 hectares and for Sector-specific SEZ from existing 100 hectares to 50 hectares.

To provide greater flexibility in utilising land tracts falling between 50-450 hectares, it has been decided to introduce a Graded Scale for Minimum Land Criteria which would permit a SEZ an additional sector for each contiguous 50 hectare parcel of land. This will also bring about more efficient use of the infrastructure facilities created in such an SEZ.

Further flexibility to set up additional units in a sector specific SEZ is being provided by introducing Sectoral broad-banding to encompass similar / related areas under the same sector.

On the issues relating to Vacancy of Land, while the existing policy allows for parcels of land with pre-existing structures not in commercial use to be considered as vacant land for the purpose of notifying an SEZ, it has now been decided that additions to such pre-existing structures and activities being undertaken after notification would be eligible for duty benefits similar to any other activity in the SEZ.

In addition, the minimum built up area requirement has also been

considerably relaxed with the requirement of one lakh square meters to be applicable for the 7 major cities viz: Mumbai, Delhi (NCR), Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune and Kolkata. For the other Category B cities 50,000 square meters and for remaining cities only 25,000 square meters built up area norm will be applicable.

The present SEZ Framework does not include

an Exit Policy for the units and feedback was that this was perceived as a great disadvantage. It has now been decided to permit transfer of ownership of SEZ units, including sale.

“Exports from SEZs during the last financial year have registered a growth of over 31 per cent over the previous year. Undoubtedly, these are significant achievements, but the SEZ scheme has not been able to realise its full potential so far. We have undertaken a comprehensive review of the SEZ Policy after intense stakeholder consultation and after a year- long process. Today I am happy to announce a package of reforms for reviving investor interest in SEZs,” said Sharma in his speech.

National NewsGovernment Policy

Second Task Force on Transaction Cost in International TradeThe report on Transaction Cost was released in Feb 2011. Implementation of its recommendation resulted into estimated reduction of transaction cost of approximately Rs 2495 crore. Second Task Force on Transaction Costs has been constituted. The Committee would submit its report in six months.

Anand Sharma Commerce, Industry and Textiles

Minister, Government of India

Foreign Trade Policy 2013Exporters hail for growth oriented steps A number of announcements have been made by Anand Sharma, Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister, Government of India, in the Foreign Trade Policy Supplement for 2013-14. Out of them Extension of Zero Duty EPCG Scheme and relaxed land policy for SEZ encouraged the export industry for reaching the set target.

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International NewsCorporate Social Responsibilities

World’s leading company Bolloré Logistics, which is a part of the Bolloré group’s transport and

logistics division, on March 21 organised a world wide round the clock (in 19 different time zones) Marathon by creating a human chain of its nearly 2000 employees. The

objective of this event was to express solidarity to charitable organisations viz UNICEF. The marathon started in Auckland

and ended in Papeete, the capital of French Polynesia, in the Pacific Ocean. In India, the company employees participated in the programme in NCR Delhi.

The Bolloré Logistics corporate culture is based on essential principles, such as

entrepreneurship, team spirit and integrity. As part of its ‘sustainable development’ strategy, the division is committed to expressing its solidarity with charitable associations. Thus, the company wanted to pay tribute to the unity, dynamism and solidarity of its teams by creating an unprecedented global and social event: Marathon Day. According to the company sources, Marathon Day means

working together towards the same goal and showing the significance of Bolloré Logistics’ international network.

With a presence spanning five continents, Bolloré Logistics Brands (SDV, SAGA, BLP, Nord Sud) can perform all kinds of logistics-related service: the commissioning of air, maritime and overland transportation, customs services, storage and distribution, industrial logistics, port operations, safety and quality inspections and chartering brokerage through an international network.

Worldwide Marathon Bolloré Logistic’s innovative ways for a cause

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Chapman Freeborn Airchartering recently announced a new strategic cooperation agreement with

Lufthansa Cargo. Effective April 1, 2013, the global aircraft charter specialist will handle Lufthansa Cargo’s third party chartering requirements, allowing the

Lufthansa to focus on marketing charter capacity on its own fleet of 18 McDonnell Douglas MD-11F aircraft.

The agreement is expected to give Lufthansa Cargo’s international sales force and client base access to the full range of

charter aircraft through Chapman Freeborn’s global network of 35 offices – from helicopters and light aircraft for time-critical freight, up to giant Antonov AN-225 aircraft for heavy and outsize cargo requirements.

Chapman Freeborn clients will benefit from the enhanced access to Lufthansa Cargo’s freighter fleet - but maintain its position of neutrality in the marketplace and continue to work in partnership with cargo airline suppliers worldwide.

“We will continue offering customers flexible and high-value charter solutions in the future. With the newly adapted structure, we are leaner and more focussed, and can offer our own aircraft even easier and faster ways,” said Dr. Andreas Otto, Lufthansa Board Member Product and Sales.

Russi Batliwala, CEO of Chapman Freeborn asserted that Lufthansa and Chapman’s joint customers would benefit from this cooperation and would find the right charter solution at any time.

Emirates SkyCargo has stated that since 2011, it has put in place over 120 bilateral e-AWB agreements

with its customers to ensure a smooth transition from paper Air Waybills (AWB) to electronic record formats, known as Electronic Air Waybill (e-AWB).

According to Ram Menen, Divisional Senior Vice President-Cargo, Emirates, the recent World Cargo Symposium held in Doha, where the e-AWB multilateral agreement was endorsed, the airline has received an increased interest in e-AWB adoption from its customers across the world. “We have observed heightened interest in e-freight implementation industry-wide. We are at an important junction for the cargo industry, with

the future looking bright for e-freight adoption,” he said.

In his opinion, with increased flexibility in the e-AWB process as a result of the multilateral e-AWB agreement, industry players are finding it easier to enter into the e-AWB environment and manage processes electronically with their customers. “As a result, we will see increased adoption of e-AWB processes for both the Montreal and Warsaw Convention Countries over the coming months and years. Emirates SkyCargo will continue to remain at the forefront of these developments and advise those interested in taking the steps to ‘go green’ and adopt a paperless cargo system,” he reiterated.

International NewsAirlines News

Chapman and Lufthansa sign strategic cooperation agreement

Emirates SkyCargowitnesses increased interest in e-AWB

Ram MenenDivisional Senior Vice President-Cargo, Emirates

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Product DisplayGandhi Automations

Gandhi Automations is the manufacturer of Rolling Shutters, certified to ISO 9001- 2008 quality

management system. According to the company sources, this has resulted in the implementation of continuous improvement in personnel training, production, inspection, equipment calibration, machinery maintenance, logistics and customer relations. The product engineering team uses the latest software combined with technologically advanced machinery to offer to the customer a well-engineered product.

The sources also informed that Gandhi Automations has developed technical expertise in manufacturing various kinds of automated Rolling Shutters. The research and development team with its extensive know-how and experience are able to produce specific types of Rolling Shutters unique to certain sites and client requirements.

According to the Gandhi Automations sources, Gandhi Rolling Shutters are ideal for situations where side room is at a premium and security is required. “Our Rolling Shutters require very little headroom above the structural opening.

They combine strength with elegance along with durability and are designed for both external and internal applications,” said the sources. Gandhi Rolling Shutters are fabricated of interlocking Galvanized Insulated and Non Insulated, Stainless Steel, patented Aluminum or Polycarbonate slats and patented MS Rolling Grills.

“Gandhi Rolling Shutters fit openings to a maximum width of 30,000 mm and height of 40,000 mm with an endless array of options to satisfy both aesthetic consideration as well as working requirement,” stressed the sources.

Gandhi Automations felicitated with ISO 9001:2008 Certificate A Gandhi Automations source informed that the company recently honoured with ISO 9001:2008 Certificate and it became the only company in the Entrance Automations industry to receive the certificate in accordance with TUV NORD CERT procedures. The company chose the respective certification body keeping in mind the reliable auditing procedures that the body practices.

The certification is applicable to manufacturing, installing and servicing of Gates, Doors & Rolling Shutters, Dock Levelers, Dock Shelters, Boom Barriers, Rolling Shutters, Fire Shutters, Doors and Gates and Access Control Systems.

It was in the year 1996-97, when Samir Gandhi and Kartik Gandhi, Company Directors, established ‘Gandhi Automations’ in India. In the span of 16 years, the company rose from scratch to being No. 1 Entrance Automations and Loading Bay Equipment Company. Today, the company has direct presence in 23 cities of the country. The Company has added one more feather on its cap by acquiring a 100,000 square feet of land at Bhiwandi where the work of factory building is in process.

Rolling Shutters: quality engineered

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Cover StoryPort Infrastructure

Hub Port onEast CoastKrishnapatnam all set with world standard container terminal

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The ambitious container terminal of Krishnapatnam Port Company Limited (KPCL) has recently been dedicated to the Nation by Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at a ceremonial function, which was attended by the port officials and a large number of government and industry representatives. The terminal is expected to position the port as a transshipment hub for exim cargo on the east coast of India.

With tremendous potential and recent developments pertaining to trade between India and East and South East Asian countries, Krishnapatnam

Port has launched a world standard container terminal to facilitate export import trade, initially in its surrounding areas (the hinterland within 250 miles). The port is located in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, 80 km north of Chennai. It has a vast hinterland covering Southern Andhra Pradesh, North Tamil Nadu and Eastern Karnataka. The aim of the port is to position itself as a viable hub for shippers across the country, who are interested in strengthening their exim business from the east coast of the country.

“Our container terminal is one of the most technically advanced terminals in the world offering tremendous benefits not just to liner companies but also to the import and export trade community, because of its strategic locations and world standard container terminal facilities, available at low cost,” asserted Anil Yendluri, CEO, Krishnapatnam Port. According to him, Krishnapatnam Port will help accelerate the growth of this region as an industrial hub and also aims at bringing a paradigm shift in Indian shipping and container terminal operations.

RATAN KR PAUL

Present Facilities at KPCT

Terminal Capacity: 1.2 Mn TEUs 2 Berths Total Berth length: 650 metres Wharf: 650 metres (straight line); another 1370 metres to be added later

Draft: 13.5 metres; to be increased to 17.5 metres

Capabilities of handling Mother container vessels of up to 8000 TEUs

State-of-the-art handling infrastructure with RMQCs, RTGs, Reach stackers, etc

Large container yard with reefer storage facilities

Rail siding details: On dock rail adjacent to CY

CFS facility within port limits

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Cover StoryPort Infrastructure

According to the industry insiders, space availability and technically superior facilities certainly make the container terminal (KPCT) the port of the future on the east coast of India, unlike other ports that are challenged by congestion and poor connectivity. Krishnapatnam Port offers multimodal connectivity by road and rail to the national grid. It has a dedicated 4-lane road (25 km) connecting to National Highway 5, and 26 km of dedicated railway line to the national grid.

Meanwhile, container shipping lines like Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) have started calling their own vessels at KPCT. In addition, the largest container feeder companies in the Bay of Bengal area – Bengal Tiger Line (BTL), FAR Shipping and Xpress Feeders ( XCL) are also offering services from KPCT.

With a draft facility of 18m, KPCL / KPCT spans over an area of 6500 acres providing ample space for import and export cargo and containers as well as transhipment operations. The Container

terminal is equipped with 5 state-of-the-art super post panamax quay cranes. The terminal is also well connected by rail and four lane roads to the national grid, making for swift access and evacuation of containers and cargo.

According to Vinita Venkatesh, Advisor, KPCT,

the excellent connections offered by container liners

from this terminal to all parts of the world is tremendously benefitting the importers and exporters in the immediate hinterlands of Guntur, Ongole, Vijayawada, Gudur, Kodur and Nellore. “The trade in these areas is enjoying reduced cost on transportation thereby increasing their competitiveness in the global markets,” she emphasised.

Agricultural commodities – maize, rice, groundnut, chillies, onions, raw cotton and tobacco can be stored in the port’s warehouses for container stuffing while granite, both rough blocks as well as

finished slabs can be handled in open yards with the state-of-the art equipment available at the Port.

Venkatesh also informed that the seafood industry of Nellore has benefitted critically by shorter road transportation and faster transit via KPCT. Further the exim trade of Hyderabad and Bangalore have

also commenced moving cargo through Krishnapatnam Port to avail of the advantages of lower transportation and handling costs, efficient and congestion–free operations at KPCT.

Yendluri further maintained that this all-weather container terminal will be operational round the clock, 365 days and is all set to boost the container terminal capacity to six million TEUs per annum within the next few years, handling the highest container volumes ever on the east coast. “We will add numerous strengths like maximum efficiency, minimum dwell time and maximum safety, thus making it one of the finest and most modern ports in the world,” he said.

Krishnapatnam Port Company was appointed by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to develop the existing minor port into a modern, deep water and high productivity port, with a concession period of 50 years. The port is being built in three phases. Krishnapatnam Port is promoted by the Hyderabad-

based CVR Group. Navayuga Engineering Company Ltd. (NECL) is the flagship entity of CVR Group. CVR group is a highly diversified group dealing with power, steel, port establishment, spatial technology and applications, information technology and exports. Krishnapatnam Port has so far witnessed a total investment of nearly USD 1 billion. For the container terminal Rs 1400 crore has been invested in the Phase I, and Rs 500 crore and Rs 7300 crore will be invested in the Phase II and the rest of the container terminal project respectively. The port has a plan to be India’s largest port by 2016-17 with an annual capacity of 200 MTPA and 42 berths. Container terminal’s final capacity will be 6 Million TEUs per annum.

Container Terminal – Phase II Container Berths 7 Total Berth Length 2,000 mtrs Terminal Capacity 4.8 Mn TEUs Draft Alongside 21.0 mtrs Total Area 600 acres Yard Ground Slots 10,000 TEUs Yard Capacity 40,000 TEUs Quay Cranes 20 (Super Post-Panamax) Rubber Tyred Gantry 40 x 42 MT

Integrated logistics park within port

Anil YendluriCEO, Krishnapatnam Port

Vinita VenkateshAdvisor, KPCT

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UPLIFT is an initiative to create a cargo community platform

which targets to enable the more than 15000 strong Indian freight forwarding and custom house agent (CHA) organisations to electronically communicate within themselves and with other stakeholders like shippers, consignees, airports, seaports, airlines, transporters, customs, and custodians.

The aim of UPLIFT is to eliminate the manual operations, paperwork, and redundant data entry and bring in the shipment visibility across the value chain. Presently it acts both as a business to

business (B2B) portal and a business to consumer (B2C) portal for trade community members to conduct electronic transactions.

According to a Kale Logistics statement, meanwhile leading freight forwarders, custom house agents, carriers, airports are utilising this platform to realise significant savings in terms of time, money and resources.

Today, UPLIFT is reportedly connecting 30 per cent of Indian freight forwarders/ CHAs electronically with 10 leading carriers (representing over 65 per cent of India’s air freight market) and Indian Customs. With more than 2500 users and shipment filing to more than 450 destinations globally, this pioniering platform is preparing the ground for Indian logistics players for paper free cargo initiative or e-freight.

Commenting on this achievement Amar More, Vice President, Kale Logistics Solutions said, “With UPLIFT, India is geared up to be one of the leading nations participating in the global e-cargo movement. This platform is revolutionising the way cargo information is exchanged by the Indian cargo community.” He also asserted that industry stakeholders are already realising the benefits of visibility across the supply chain, a more predictable shipment status and far more secure cargo movement. “We are confident that UPLIFT will contribute in lowering the logistics transaction costs in India and increasing India’s EXIM competitiveness,” More stressed.

Abhijeet Logistics was felicitated with ‘WCA Inter Global Best Partner Award’

for Indian sub continent region , at the recently held WCA Conference in Bangkok. The conference was attended by more than 2400 freight forwarders from across the world.

Headquartered in New Delhi, Abhijeet Logistics is a member of the international network for logistics industry called ‘WCA Family’. The company was established in 2009, and covers a wide range of services including international freight forwarding by air, ocean and road, custom house broking, insurance services, providing packages for dangerous goods, small parcel delivery, and other logistical solutions.

Abhijeet Logistics also provides consultancy for complete logistic solutions for handling, clearance and transportation of all types of commodities, specialising in pharmaceuticals and dangerous goods.

Industry AssociationsTechnology/Award

Key Highlights of UPLIFT

Fastest adoption of cargo community platform globally

Transacting with 10 out of top 15 cargo carriers in India

Recognised by International Air Transport Association (IATA)

Providing connectivity to 114 carriers

Top 30 per cent of India’s air cargo agents are currently connected to UPLIFT

More than 2500 users across India Compliant with all industry regulations including e-cargo initiatives

Amar MoreVice President, Kale Logistics

Solutions

UPLIFT by ACAAI and Kaleregisters one million EDI messagesUPLIFT (Universal Platform for Logistics and Integrated Freight Transport), which is India’s first multi-modal Cargo Community System has crossed one million EDI messages in record time two years, after its inception. UPLIFT is India’s first cargo community platform to connect the multi-modal logistics network in India. It is promoted and co-developed by Kale Logistics Solutions in association with the Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI).

Abhijeet Logisticsreceives WCA Award

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Lead StoryCurrent Topics

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WarehousingIssuesAccording to a recent report, an absence of laid-out rules or a framework for the warehousing segment is the first and foremost building block of the logistics value chain, and the result for mushrooming illegal warehouses on the outskirts of most cities. Cargotalk spoke to a few industry stakeholders to get their views on issues related to warehousing development in India…

RATAN KR PAUL

The Study report unveiled that in India warehousing clusters have developed in close proximity to demand centres such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,

Gurgaon and Indore. Today, almost all major cities, by virtue of being large consumption centres, have warehousing markets.

Since acquisition of land is one of the main challenges for warehouse developers, laws of the state play a very crucial role in the development of land-based facilities. States where land laws are extremely complicated and restrictive, the number of illegal structures is found to be more compared to other states, where easy regulations help developers get necessary approvals fast and without much fuss.

The warehousing segment, which makes up 20 per cent of the Indian logistics industry, still remains largely unorganised and lack of development rules has hampered it from taking advantage of the growth

the country recently experienced in the logistics sector.

A PWC Study also underlined that warehousing has been gaining tremendous importance due to the growing need to reduce storage and lead times for inventory. In addition, the concentration of the auto manufacturing activity in some places has led manufacturers to construct warehouses in strategic locations, which then serves as the central point for distribution and collection of finished and intermediate products including auto parts. This primarily works on the theory of augmentation and assortment. The government has also contributed to the growth of the warehousing sector. It has established Special Economic Zones (SEZs) especially for auto manufacturers, usually close to ports, to cater to the growing demand in the automobile sector. SEZs in Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are established by state governments.

Industry urges for ease in land acquisition and regulations

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Land Acquisition“Warehousing is emerging as a major game changer in the field of Logistics. It adds value to the transportation and also provides opportunities for additional value added services, while at the same time reducing the overall logistics cost. This will help the agricultural warehousing segment as well as industrial warehousing,” said Vinod Asthana, MD, CRWC. According to him, modern formats for warehousing will replace the traditional godown and cold storages to give way to multi-chambers cold chain based warehouses.

He pointed out that warehousing is an asset based business and has high capital requirement. Most of the Logistics Parks are today primarily updated and renovated warehouses and have very little multi-modal facilities. “For setting up of Logistics Parks, whether industry specific or commodity specific warehouses besides ICDs/CFSs, the industry requires large parcel of land at key locations. Availability of land continues to be a major concern. The organised warehouse companies are finding it difficult to expand the business, in spite of the growing demand,” he added.

Endorsed Vineet Agarwal, JMD, Transport Corporation of India, “Land acquisition is one of the main challenges for warehouse developers apart from laws of the state that play a very crucial role in the development of such facilities.” In his opinion, in the development plans, particularly industrial area planning, warehousing needs to be incorporated as a rule rather than an exception. Land reform is therefore extremely critical for setting-up of warehouses.

Vikram Mansukhani, National Operations Head, Drive India Enterprise Solutions Limited (DIESL) maintained that India needs world-class facilities with automation and a good network of roads and infrastructure to support its growing logistics needs. Investment in large warehousing hubs will see a positive trend with liberal land reform policies and the government allocating land for special warehousing zones. “Unfortunately, while the government is moving towards liberalisation and privatisation, there are pockets of landed-elite with strong political and bureaucratic networks that thwart land reforms and their judicious

implementation,” he said.

According to him, complex land laws in several states, example Maharashtra, and stringent regulations also serve to push up the number of illegal warehousing. To curb this menace, government should demark land banks for dedicated warehousing zones, create awareness about warehouse structure regulations and encourage long term investments via PPPs

According to Ram Tiwari, Director Marketing, Shine Logistics, land acquisition is one of the major hurdles before the warehousing industry. There is no direction from the Government as per land registry or change of land for warehousing. However, for other manufacturing industries, clear guidelines have been given. “As a result, there are many illegal warehouses operating, which are not able to meet client requirements, because they do not want to invest in a modern warehouse,” he highlighted.

“Warehousing will come out of the dark ages in the near future. Poor quality infrastructure on questionable land parcels

Lead StoryCurrent Topics

Most of the Logistics Parks are

today primarily updated and renovated warehouses and have

very little multi-modal facilitiesVinod Asthana

MD, CRWC

Land acquisition is one of the main challenges

for warehouse developers apart from laws of the

states that play a very crucial

role for such facilities”Vineet Agarwal

JMD, Transport Corporation of India

There are pockets of

landed-elite with strong political and

bureaucratic networks that thwart land

reforms”Vikram Mansukhani

National Operations Head, Drive India Enterprise Solutions Limited (DIESL)

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will give way to quality warehousing solutions that comply with all laws. This transformation will be spurred by tenants/customers, who will demand that landlords comply with all laws, the rapidly rising scale of inventory that will compel warehouses to get leaner and more efficient, and government cracking down on defaulters,” supplemented Bharat Joshi, Director, ACTL and CEO, J Curve.

“In place of sheds in ‘lal dora’ or agricultural land, we will witness customised warehouses that cater to specific products and commodities, employing the best of warehouse management systems,” he added.

Rules and RegulationsAgarwal was of the view that the warehousing segment still remains largely unorganised and lack of uniform warehousing development rules has hampered it from taking advantage of the boom the country recently experienced in the logistics sector. Except for a few state-controlled companies and a very few large private operators, the segment cannot claim much.

FTWZs in India are governed by the SEZ Act 2005 and SEZ Rules 2006. These zones mandate availability of power (conventional or solar), water, motor-able roads, and manpower. Resources can be shared, delivery time and cost can be reduced and benefits can be passed to the customer.

“However, shortage of land available for FTWZs compounded with a plethora of rules, regulations and licenses pertaining to setting up warehouses and operations, creates bottlenecks in fulfilling the demand for state-of-the-art warehousing hubs in India,” Mansukhani pointed out. The multitude of regulatory and enforcement authorities at local, state and national levels require several approvals and licensing before starting operations. These are in addition to the elementary registrations like TAN, PAN, VAT, etc. There are also regulations relating to environmental clearances, handling of chemicals and hazardous products, safety, etc.

Delay in GST implementation Delay in GST implementation is hampering growth of the logistics sector in India. Trade boundaries between states continue to exist

and companies are unable to consolidate their supply chains, thus posing difficulty in maintaining a seamless supply across the country. Pending GST has also resulted in lower investments in IT leading to delay and detention of trucks, which in turn causes delay in delivery of goods and inefficiency in fleet utilisation.

“Imbalance between the Centre and States continues to exist in the absence of GST. This is hindering development of logistics parks and free trade warehousing zones by formation of regional hub-based infrastructure and an environment conducive of rationalisation for the logistics network. This is also discouraging logistics companies from investing in assets and technology to align their service offering to complement the supply chains of their customers,” observed Agarwal.

Delay in implementation of GST is also affecting productivity and encouraging corruption by way of complex documentation which leads to slow movement of cargo and thus hindering cost optimisation. “The rollout of GST is long overdue but at the same time the concept is

Lead StoryCurrent Topics

There are many illegal warehouses operating, which are not able to

meet client requirements, because they do not want

to invest in a modern warehouse”

Ram Tiwari Director Marketing, Shine Logistics

Warehousing will come out of the dark ages in the near future. Poor

quality infrastructure on questionable land parcels will give way to quality warehousing solutions”

Bharat Joshi Director, ACTL and CEO, J Curve

Imbalance between the Centre and States

continues to exist in the absence of GST. This is hindering development

of logistics parks and free trade warehousing zones”

T N Seetharaman Chie Operations O cer

Damco South Asia

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plagued by uncertainties of design and rate bands. While GST is getting delayed, the back door entry of new local taxes such as Local Body Tax (LBT) are creating a shroud of mystery on whether one uniform and easy to use tax structure will ever be the way ahead,” added Mansukhani.

“It is imperative that GST be enforced at the earliest. Delay in implementing this uniform tax code causes a wasteful supply chain resulting in inflation of costs,” felt Joshi.

T N Seetharaman, Chief Operations Officer, Damco South Asia, also maintained that GST implementation is expected to change the scenario of warehousing and distribution, which will shift focus from being “Tax Planning” to “Logistics Planning” for most of the corporates. However the delay in implementation of GST is a major worry for all in the corporate world.

“To avoid further confusion among the international clients and losses to the national economy because of diversion of exim to other countries, the Government must introduce GST as soon as possible. It will help the logistics industry and ultimately benefits will be passed on to end users,” stressed Tiwari.

Industry Status“Warehousing should be recognised as infrastructure. It will help in getting cheaper finance from banks and financial institutions and at the same time will help the agri and the industrial sector. In SEZ and industrial towns, warehousing should be treated as part of common facilities like road and power, for which

land should be earmarked,” suggested Asthana.

In his opinion, development of modern warehouses, especially for high-end commodities and certification is becoming necessary to integrate the growth of logistics with policies. “An integrated logistics policy will ensure that development is moving in the desired direction,” he said.

Agarwal pointed out that the rules for approval of warehousing projects vary from state to state. To have systematic growth of the warehousing sector, it should be put under a regulatory authority, which could make policies for implementation across the country and co-ordinate with the relevant ministries/states.

“The government should also identify strategic logistics points and develop facilities on a public-private participation mode, apart from encouraging long-term investment from public and private players alike for developing facilities like warehousing. The requirement of industry status/tax incentives is to encourage prospective investors,” he emphasised.

Agarwal added that setting-up of a nodal cross-ministerial logistics body, infrastructure status to the wider warehousing industry and higher financial outlay for skill improvement should be initiated.

“Logistics must be first granted the status of an ‘industry’. It is no longer about transportation between two cites or warehousing alone; it is in fact a complex value chain continuously evolving by adopting international best practices. The need for industry status will be felt more and more as the country’s economy spreads to tier III and IV cities,” observed Mansukhani.

Seetharaman, however emphasised on the industry’s inherent weaknesses. “The main challenge can be cited as the industry following a traditional mindset of “low cost outsourcing” as the only way to become competitive in the market. This needs to change to improving operational efficiencies through introduction of technology and systems, where cost productivity will be a logical by-product,” he concluded.

Lead StoryCurrent Topics

Consensus on Land Acquisition BillAt a meeting held on April 18 in New Delhi, major political parties have reached to a consensus on the ‘Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011.’ The Bill proposes the payment of compensation that is up to four times the market value in rural areas and two times the market value in urban areas. The Government of India has reportedly accepted key demands of the major opposition parties regarding leasing of land and compensation reaching the original farmer-owners, and rights of tenants. The government also agreed to amend the bill to provide for an enabling provision for states to enact laws in this regard as leasing of land is a state subject.

The objective of the Bill was to address problems of industry regarding acquisition of land for setting up projects. It provides for land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced people and proposes to replace the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. According to the Bill, consent of 80 per cent of the people is required for acquiring land for private industry. However, there was a debate among various political parties regarding the contents of the Bill. It was referred to a GoM in the wake of differences in the Cabinet over certain provisions in the Bill.

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International EventsLogistics Events

Calendar of International Logistics Events26th IGHC Ground Handling ConferenceMay 5 to 8Vancouver, B.C., CanadaVenue: Westin Bayshore, VancouverContact: www.iata.org

Cold Chain and Temperature Management LogisticsMay 13-15, 2013 Intercontinental MiramarPanama City, PanamaContact: [email protected]

2nd Cold Chain IndiaMay 16-17, 2013Mumbai, IndiaContact: newsletter@

coldchainiq.com

Trans Middle EastMay 29- 30, 2013 Intercontinental Phoenicia Hotel, Beirut, LebanonContact: Transport Events Management 2nd Floor, 53-3, Jalan USJ 9/5R, 47620 Subang JayaSelangor Darul Ehsan,Malaysia+(60)-(3)-80235352

BioLogistics June 3-5, 2013 Golden Gateway Hotel, San Francisco, CAContact: [email protected]

Air Cargo EuropeJune 4-7, 2013-04-17New Munich Trade Fair Centre, GermanyPhone +49 89 949-11368Contact: [email protected]

E-Cargo ConferenceJune 18 - 20, 2013Geneva, Switzerland IATA Conference Centre Route de L’Aeroport 331215 Geneva, SwitzerlandContact : www.iata.org

11th ASEAN Ports and ShippingJuly 11 – 12, 2013 Windsor Plaza Hotel

Ho Chi Minh City, VietnamContact: Transport Events Management 2nd Floor, 53-3, Jalan USJ 9/5R, 47620 Subang JayaSelangor Darul Ehsan,Malaysia+(60)-(3)-80235352

Black Sea Ports and ShippingSeptember 11-12, 2013The Marmara Hotel, Istanbul, TurkeyContact: Transport Events Management 2nd Floor, 53-3, Jalan USJ 9/5R, 47620 Subang JayaSelangor Darul Ehsan,Malaysia+(60)-(3)-80235352

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Cargo Performance Export/Import

DELHI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CARGO DEPARTMENT, IGI AIRPORT, NEW DELHI

(AIRLINE-WISE IMPORT/EXPORT CARGO PERFORMANCE FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH 2013)All wt. in mt.

Total 17183 2543 19726 14879 34605 100.00% Cargo handled in March ‘12’ 14520 2643 17162 15558 32721 % VARIATION 18.34% -3.79% 14.94% -4.37% 5.76%

1 Jet Airways 1275 224 1499 1546 3046 8.80%2 Air India 1358 442 1801 1193 2994 8.65%3 Cathay Paci c 1008 27 1035 1777 2812 8.13%4 Emirates 1105 1044 2149 600 2749 7.94%5 British Airways 1006 35 1041 951 1992 5.76%6 Singapore 864 11 875 810 1685 4.87%7 Thai Airways 532 32 564 1073 1637 4.73%8 Lufthansa Cargo Airline 671 64 735 693 1429 4.13%9 Fedex Express Corpation 633 13 646 603 1249 3.61%10 Kalitta Air 439 1 440 443 883 2.55%11 Qatar Airways 422 106 528 349 878 2.54%12 Etihad Airways 402 28 430 442 872 2.52%13 Air France 476 54 530 315 845 2.44%14 Swiss Intl Airline Ltd 506 24 530 294 825 2.38%15 Malaysian Airline System 356 32 388 385 772 2.23%16 Turkish Airlines 566 17 583 180 763 2.21%17 Virgin Atlantic 422 5 426 281 707 2.04%18 Uzbekistan 417 48 465 201 666 1.92%19 Klm 334 26 360 216 576 1.66%20 Finnair 348 8 356 172 528 1.53%21 China Eastern Airlines 243 1 245 283 527 1.52%22 Japan Airlines 175 11 186 302 488 1.41%23 M/S All Nippon Airways 320 7 327 160 488 1.41%24 Martin Airline 220 14 234 232 465 1.34%

26 Saudia 310 59 369 14 383 1.11%27 United Airlines 245 15 260 107 367 1.06%28 Lufthansa Cargo Ag 165 9 174 128 302 0.87%29 Air China 158 1 159 114 273 0.79%30 Eva Air 98 17 115 142 257 0.74%31 Indigo Cargo 193 0 193 20 213 0.61%32 Uni-Top Airlines 0 0 0 207 207 0.60%33 China Air 113 15 128 73 202 0.58%34 Blue Dart 138 0 138 38 176 0.51%35 Mahan Air 152 3 155 9 164 0.48%36 Oman Air 128 27 155 1 156 0.45%37 Air Shagoon Pvt. Ltd. 83 0 83 63 145 0.42%38 Gulf Air 113 28 141 2 143 0.41%39 Dhl Express 0 0 0 125 125 0.36%40 China Southern Airlines 55 3 58 65 123 0.35%41 Ariana Afghan Airlines 82 1 83 39 122 0.35%42 Air Arabia 108 0 108 7 116 0.33%43 Air Mauritius 72 28 100 16 116 0.33%44 Spice Jet 81 0 81 27 107 0.31%45 Ethopean Airlines 57 13 70 17 87 0.25%46 Hercules Aviation 83 0 83 0 83 0.24%47 Sri Lankan Airlines Ltd 51 1 52 28 80 0.23%48 Asiana Airlines 56 0 56 16 72 0.21%49 Philippine Airlines 34 3 37 15 51 0.15%50 Air Astana 34 10 45 1 45 0.13%

52 Kenya 32 0 32 4 36 0.10%53 Mihin Lanka Airlines 24 0 24 5 30 0.09%54 Kuwait Airlines 1 18 18 2 21 0.06%55 Pakistan International 7 1 7 14 21 0.06%56 Ups 0 0 0 19 19 0.05%57 Kam Air 17 0 17 0 17 0.05%58 Turkmenisthan Airlines 9 3 12 2 15 0.04%59 Finnair 12 0 12 0 12 0.04%60 Royal Jordanian Airlines 8 0 8 0 8 0.02%61 Iraqi Airways 1 2 3 0 3 0.01%62 Jetlite 0 0 0 3 3 0.01%63 Druk Air 1 0 1 0 2 0.00%

S. No. Airlines Export (MTs) Export Export Import Total Cargo % Perishable (with Peri.) of Total Cargo (MTs) (UPL) (MTs)

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MUMBAI CSI AIRPORTEXPORT/IMPORT CARGO TONNAGE HANDLED

IN MARCH 2013

S.No. Airlines Export Export Total Import Total General Perishable Export Exp+Imp

1 Jet Airways 1230.92 1185.67 2416.59 2554.93 4971.52 2 Emirates 1715.86 1575.90 3291.76 1413.50 4705.26 3 Lufthansa 558.08 625.20 1183.28 2130.48 3313.76 4 Air India 871.41 1248.89 2120.30 1040.81 3161.11 5 Cathay Paci c 1334.16 117.18 1451.34 1355.11 2806.45 6 Singapore Airlines 888.62 264.17 1152.79 1407.09 2559.88 7 British Airways 524.23 589.03 1113.26 705.39 1818.65 8 Etihad Airways 754.29 57.23 811.52 789.26 1600.78 9 Qatar Airways 545.77 333.30 879.07 646.49 1525.56 10 Turkish Airlines 533.60 51.10 584.70 374.19 958.88 11 Saudi Arabian Airlines 704.38 143.53 847.91 63.16 911.07 12 Swiss Intl. Airlines 325.21 126.66 451.87 445.86 897.73 13 Malaysian Airlines 406.42 68.50 474.92 313.09 788.02 14 Federal Express 403.73 115.07 518.80 247.36 766.16 15 Air France 379.56 113.69 493.25 230.54 723.80 16 Ethopian Airlines 694.61 6.97 701.58 6.35 707.93 17 UPS 163.37 0.00 163.37 543.61 706.97 18 Thai Airways 174.68 103.10 277.78 408.98 686.76 19 Virgin Atlantic 186.69 29.21 215.90 333.03 548.92 20 Martin Air 0.00 0.00 0.00 545.95 545.95 21 Delta/KLM Airlines 185.94 83.98 269.92 230.31 500.23 22 South African Airlines 298.99 1.73 300.72 30.59 331.31 23 Fin Air 267.51 8.91 276.41 0.00 276.41 24 Gulf Air 62.52 197.37 259.89 1.78 261.66 25 Kuwait Airways 105.83 123.94 229.77 4.18 233.95 25 Kenya Airways 210.52 1.87 212.38 4.91 217.30 26 Korean Air 98.55 12.80 111.36 96.57 207.93 27 Air Arabia 53.23 128.73 181.96 3.48 185.44 28 Air Cargo Arologic C/O Lufthansa 0.00 0.00 0.00 182.37 182.37 29 Air Mauritius 166.87 6.14 173.01 3.65 176.66 30 Oman Air 78.86 65.16 144.02 2.03 146.05 31 EL-AL Airlines 71.92 3.19 75.11 67.83 142.94 32 United/Continental Airlines 25.56 7.20 32.77 89.73 122.49 33 Indigo Air 65.31 51.01 116.32 0.47 116.79 34 Srilankan Air 61.14 8.52 69.66 27.60 97.25 35 Blue Dart 54.24 0.00 54.24 19.38 73.62 36 113.69 61.54 8.54 70.07 3.44 73.52 37 Yemenia Airways 19.54 8.04 27.58 0.12 27.71 38 Pakistan intl Airlines 21.72 2.64 24.35 3.30 27.65 39 Egypt Air 24.11 0.15 24.26 2.47 26.73 40 Iran Air 23.67 2.59 26.26 0.32 26.59 41 NorthWest Airlines 0.00 19.67 19.67 0.00 19.67 42 Royal Jordanian 15.92 0.00 15.92 0.28 16.20 43 Air China 7.97 0.00 7.97 0.00 7.97 44 Charters 0.00 0.00 0.00 7.82 7.82 45 Royal Joradian 0.00 1.72 1.72 0.00 1.72 46 Island Aviation (Maladvian) 1.05 0.00 1.05 0.00 1.05 47 Baharin Airlines 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

49 Qantas 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.0050 Others 43.01 142.24 185.25 374.69 559.94

TOTAL 14421.09 7640.52 22061.61 16712.48 38774.10 %Variation over February 2013 8.77 13.26 10.29 34.67 19.62%Variation over March 2012 1.57 8.89 3.99 (-) 0.41 2.04

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Cargo Performance Airports in India

(E) Other Airports 9797 128 -24.2 1072 1253 -14.4 Grand Total 62999 67463 -6.6 659428 674878 -2.3 (A+B+C+D+E)

TRAFFIC STATISTICS D O M E S T I C F R E I G H T

1 Chennai 5669 6913 -18.0 65141 70317 -7.4 2 Kolkata* 6260 6454 -3.0 67215 68438 -1.8 3 Ahmedabad 2987 2794 6.9 29641 13967 112.2 4 Goa 1 285 -99.6 3499 3275 6.8 5 Trivandrum 130 132 -1.5 1242 1147 8.3 6 Guwahati 431 593 -27.3 5088 6827 -25.5 7 Calicut 31 12 158.3 272 155 75.5 8 Jaipur 652 477 36.7 5778 5448 6.1 9 Srinagar 199 157 26.8 2658 1993 33.4 10 Amritsar 5 9 -44.4 77 72 6.9 11 Portblair 191 195 -2.1 1697 1946 -12.8 Total 16556 18021 -8.1 182308 173585 5.0

(A) 11 International Airports

(B) 6 JV International Airports

(C) 12 Custom Airports

(D) 17 Domestic Airports

12 Delhi (DIAL) 15345 17407 -11.8 158638 167175 -5.1 13 Mumbai (MIAL) 15143 15304 -1.1 153250 159098 -3.7 14 Bangalore (BIAL) 6618 6643 -0.4 69085 69504 -0.6 15 Hyderabad (GHIAL) 2880 2725 5.7 28053 28812 -2.6 16 Cochin (CIAL) 715 741 -3.5 7394 7110 4.0 17 Nagpur (MIPL) 366 352 4.0 4018 3961 1.4 Total 41067 43172 -4.9 420438 435660 -3.5

18 Pune 1568 2036 -23.0 16643 19273 -13.6 19 Lucknow 246 327 -24.8 1889 3261 -42.1 20 Coimbatore 474 540 -12.2 5193 6153 -15.6 21 Patna 192 238 -19.3 1762 2966 -40.6 22 Visakhapatnam 145 30 383.3 1161 728 59.5 23 Trichy 0 0 - 0 0 - 24 Mangalore 30 16 87.5 244 220 10.9 25 Chandigarh 95 222 -57.2 2145 2487 -13.8 26 Varanasi 22 33 -33.3 276 307 -10.1 27 Bagdogra 100 148 -32.4 1103 1378 -20.0 28 Madurai 123 75 64.0 856 670 27.8 29 Gaya 0 0 - 0 0 - Total 2995 3665 -18.3 31272 37443 -16.5

30 Bhubaneswar 281 189 48.7 2687 1868 43.8 31 Indore 471 326 44.5 3966 4057 -2.2 32 Jammu 146 152 -3.9 1247 1025 21.7 33 Agartala 378 540 -30.0 4847 5841 -17.0 34 Raipur 177 256 -30.9 1989 2358 -15.6 35 Imphal 295 293 0.7 3395 4188 -18.9 36 Vadodara 137 198 -30.8 1670 1818 -8.1 37 Ranchi 54 134 -59.7 1180 1415 -16.6 38 Bhopal 82 102 -19.6 821 720 14.0 39 Aurangabad 45 55 -18.2 639 1040 -38.6 40 Leh 120 106 13.2 1050 1206 -12.9 41 Udaipur 0 0 - 0 0 - 42 Rajkot 45 72 -37.5 260 621 -58.1 43 Tirupati 0 1 -100.0 16 25 -36.0 44 Dibrugarh 23 28 -17.9 262 274 -4.4 45 Jodhpur 2 1 100.0 18 38 -52.6 46 Silchar 28 24 16.7 291 443 -34.3 Total 2284 2477 -7.8 24338 26937 -9.6

Freight (in Tonnes) For the Month For the period April to JanuaryS. No. Airport January 2013 January 2012 % Change 2012-13 2011-12 % Change

* Estimated

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Cargo Performance Airports in India

TRAFFIC STATISTICS I N T E R N AT I O N A L F R E I G H T

12 Delhi (DIAL) 29026 27241 6.6 295651 306441 -3.5 13 Mumbai (MIAL) 34380 34534 -0.4 377548 390422 -3.3 14 Bangalore (BIAL) 11211 11170 0.4 118116 116863 1.1 15 Hyderabad (GHIAL) 3843 3415 12.5 38175 36571 4.4 16 Cochin (CIAL) 2855 2463 15.9 31151 29465 5.7 17 Nagpur (MIPL) 29 26 11.5 323 314 2.9 Total 81344 78849 3.2 860964 880076 -2.2

(B) 6 JV International Airports

(A) 11 International Airports

(C) 12 Custom Airports18 Pune 0 0 - 0 0 - 19 Lucknow 66 71 -7.0 1012 646 56.7 20 Coimbatore 46 35 31.4 463 382 21.2 21 Patna 0 0 - 0 0 - 22 Visakhapatnam 0 0 - 0 0 - 23 Trichy 311 93 234.4 2202 1726 27.6 24 Mangalore 0 0 - 0 0 - 25 Chandigarh 0 0 - 0 0 - 26 Varanasi 0 0 - 7 1 600.0 27 Bagdogra 0 0 - 0 0 - 28 Madurai 0 0 - 0 0 - 29 Gaya 0 0 - 0 0 - Total 423 199 112.6 3684 2755 33.7

Freight (in Tonnes) For the Month For the period April to JanuaryS. No. Airport January 2013 January 2012 % Change 2012-13 2011-12 % Change

(D) 17 Domestic Airports 0 0 - 202 0 -(E) Other Airports 0 0 - 0 0 - Grand Total (A+B+C+D+E) 106229 108588 -2.2 1169465 1225882 -4.6

1 Chennai 15855 18320 -13.5 199192 229732 -13.3 2 Kolkata* 2754 2899 -5.0 35104 37115 -5.4 3 Ahmedabad 1155 969 19.2 10599 10015 5.8 4 Goa 291 221 31.7 1934 1638 18.1 5 Trivandrum 2103 4215 -50.1 33837 38069 -11.1 6 Guwahati 3 0 - 15 0 - 7 Calicut 2237 2168 3.2 22573 20403 10.6 8 Jaipur 10 25 -60.0 141 186 -24.2 9 Srinagar 0 0 - 0 0 - 10 Amritsar 54 723 -92.5 1220 5893 -79.3 11 Portblair 0 0 - 0 0 - Total 24462 29540 -17.2 304615 343051 -11.2

* Estimated

The declaration agreement between the two organisations was officially signed in Dallas at TIACA’s 2013 Executive

Summit by Michael Steen, Chairman TIACA and Raymond Benjamin, Secretary General, ICAO.

Under the terms of the new agreement, ICAO and TIACA will work more closely on air cargo and mail security and facilitation, accelerating the evolution from paper-based to electronic processes, environmental stewardship, the liberalisation of market access for

air cargo services, and air cargo safety.

According to this is another highly significant breakthrough in the new era of collaboration between air cargo industry and leading regulatory bodies. ICAO is taking a lead in critical areas of aviation, such as security and the environment. “ICAO has made a clear point of meeting with us, listening to our views and participating in our events to learn more about the requirements and concerns of the air cargo industry. We welcome the opportunity to help this important global standards setter realise its objectives, based on a stronger understanding of the views of our sector,” he said.

ICAO and TIACA sign pact for cooperation on technical matters

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ACREX 2013 was hosted by Indian Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE). More than 350 global

exhibitors from 20 countries attended the event.

Commenting on the achievement, Umesh Sengaonkar, General Manager (West) – Protective Packaging Division, Supreme Industries said, “The recognition strengthens our pledge to offer high performance thermal insulation products that are energy efficient and environment friendly.” Elaborating on the green product Sengaonkar maintained that ‘INSUboard’ is a closed-cell, rigid extruded polystyrene board having a continuous skin surface, derived from its process of manufacture. The light weight of the product combined

with the closed-cell structure and uniform surface, supports the imposed loading during Overdeck and Floor applications. Low thermal conductivity of the product offers energy savings in critical air-conditioning areas. Even in non-conditioned buildings, it reduces the temperature by 7-8 degrees. “INSUboard retains the low thermal conductivity over its entire life spanning several decades,” he emphasised.

According to Sengaonkar, ‘INSUboard’ is moisture resistant. “As a ‘Green Product’, its application for Overdeck / Underdeck / within Cavity Walls reduces solar energy gain by air conditioned buildings, thus providing valuable recurring energy savings and costs in terms of reduction in size of A/C plant requirement,” he added.

Logistics Services Success & Achievements

The recognition strengthens our pledge to offer high performance

thermal insulation products that are energy

friendly”Umesh Sengaonkar

General Manager (West) – Protective Packaging Division, Supreme Industries

Other ‘INSU’ Products ‘INSUshield’: Closed-cell, non-fibrous, fire retardant (Class ‘O’ in fire propagation and Class ‘1’ in surface spread of flame) chemically cross-linked polyethylene foam

‘INSUflex’: Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (NBR) tubing

‘INSUreflector’: Reflective Insulation

Supreme Industries recognised for ‘INSUboard’ with ACREX Award

As recognition to their green product initiatives, the Supreme Industries INSUboard (Extruded Polystyrene Board for Thermal Insulation) was honoured with ‘ACREX Award of Excellence 2013’ at ‘ACREX 2013’, an international exhibition on air-conditioning, refrigeration and building services held recently in Mumbai.

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AMI is the world’s leading trade-only airfreight and express wholesaler. With its new office in Mumbai the company has created a new regional

division to spearhead its development in India, to launch its own operations in this country. Once its Mumbai office is fully established, AMI India plans to follow this with more branches in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

AMI’s Mumbai operation is initially focusing on airport-to-airport traffic to the company’s existing stations in the UK, USA and Africa. AMI India will progressively introduce more destinations, and additional products such as airport to door, over the ensuing months.

The company will also work to stimulate import traffic to all key points in India, from its 21 locations in the USA, UK, Europe, South Africa, Far East and Australasia. Breakbulk of imports to cities other than Mumbai will continue to be handled by its existing network of service partners across the country.

“India is a growing air cargo market with vast potential. With the liberalisation of government policies, the market is maturing well and all the leading international airlines are now operating to India. Some of them are also operating scheduled flights to smaller cities in India and this has created adequate capacity. There is however no true ‘neutral wholesale consolidator’ within India so far,” said Saldanha. Neutrality for AMI means dealing only with forwarders and agents.

Saldanha shared that AMI studied the market in detail and felt that the time was ripe to introduce AMI’s globally practised ‘neutral wholesale air consolidation’ service in India. Prior to this, AMI was offering only import consolidation services to India through a network of its local Indian agents.

With over three decades of experience in the logistics market, Saldanha is highly optimistic about the company’s success

in the Indian market. “Most forwarders that we have spoken to are excited about working with a truly neutral wholesaler. Our business model of ‘guaranteed neutrality’ provides our customers the power to compete, feeling safe in the knowledge that AMI has no direct dealings with shippers, thereby safeguarding their customer relationships and business interests,” he asserted. He also maintained that AMI India would work with freight forwarders— both big and small to add value to their individual businesses.

“Our Customers can expect a high level of personalised service, coupled with competitive rates and guaranteed neutrality, which will empower them to compete more effectively in the market, without any threat to their customers (the shippers) being poached by us,” he stressed.

For the moment, AMI India will be working with scheduled airlines and freighter operators. “Integrators could be an option that we would look at in due course. We would not however be looking at Charters at this point in time, unless the market so demands,” Saldanha said.

He also underlined that AMI’s job is to offer airlines access to agents, as they might otherwise not service the clients cost effectively, particularly in hard times. “Our business model has also proven resilient when the market is soft. We have been doing this successfully since 1976,” added Saldanha.

For AMI the traditional trade lanes in India have been the UK, Europe, USA and Africa, and that will initially be focus areas. “As we stabilise our operations, we will look at establishing other routes as well, based on market demands. We are a customer focussed organisation and will always strive to do what our customers expect from us,” Saldanha concluded.

Freight ForwardingNew Launch

RATAN KR PAUL

Air Freight ConsolidationRecently, Air Menzies International (AMI) opened its office in Mumbai by appointing Trevor Saldanha as Vice President – India. AMI is part of the UK headquartered global multinational Menzies Aviation Group. Speaking to Cargotalk Saldanha unveiled the company’s strategies for this market.

Our Customers can expect a high level of

personalised service, coupled with

competitive rates and guaranteed

neutrality, which will empower them

to compete more effectively in the

market”Trevor Saldanha

Vice President – India

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Shipping & PortsNews Update

ICTT Cochin receives first transshipment marine service

As a result of Cabotage relaxation, the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT)

in Cochin recently received its first transhipment mainline service with the berthing M.V Zim China of the Asia-India Sub Continent-East Med (AME) service operated by global shipping line ZIM. This is an important milestone for ICTT which has recently received cabotage waiver becoming India’s first and only transhipment gateway. ICTT has also increased its draft to 14 meters which will further increase its capacity to handle large mainline vessels.

According to Anil Singh, Sr. VP & Managing Director, Subcontinent DP World (the operator of ICTT) the event marked a significant change to the dynamics of transhipment within the subcontinent region going forward, as this will be the first time Sri Lanka’s import/export containers to/from Colombo will be transhipped at Cochin for loading on to a mainline vessel. This will be the first service to bring transhipment volumes from Tuticorin to Kochi, and subsequently efforts are being made to connect other major hinterland markets like Bangalore on this new AME service.

ICTT will be part of the new port rotation of ZIM’s AME service, a flagship service of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, connecting China to Mediterranean via Indian subcontinent with Cochin being the first port of call in India from China. This will be the fastest service out of China to Kochi, connecting Shanghai to Cochin in 12 days.

In a bid to strengthen its integrated supply chain logistics initiatives, LCL Logistix – the Indian member of the

FPS network of independent forwarders and NVOCCs – has opened its third container freight station (CFS) in Haldia, near Kolkata Port. The new base has an annual capacity of 25,000 TEU, and its facilities are designed to comply with the requirements of industrial shippers. Partha Bhadury, Deputy General Manager, who reports to the head of the group’s logistics division, is responsible for management of this CFS. Prior to the Haldia CFS, LCL launched its CFS bases in Pipavav (Gujarat) and Nhava Sheva (Maharashtra).

According to Jaison George, Director – Logistics, LCL the new Haldia CFS is the next milestone in LCL Logistix’s journey into total logistics and supply chain management solutions. It is pertinent to mention that Haldia is a fast-emerging industrial location for West Bengal and the entire eastern region of India. It is also a new gateway to south-east Asia. Government initiatives are helping to make Haldia one of the country’s fastest-growing urban industrial centres. It is expected that with further development Haldia Port will take its current capacity of from 38 million tonne to 50 million tonne per annum within the next two years.

LCL Logistix launches CFS in Haldia Port

Far East–India Express calls Port PipavavE ffective April 2013, the Far East India Express Service (FIX) has started calling APM

Terminals Pipavav. The FIX service is a consortium operated by Hanjin Shipping, STX Pan Ocean and KMTC. A total of six vessels of 4300 TEU’s are deployed on this

service. C K Rajan, Head – Container Business, APM Terminals Pipavav, and other officials were present on the occasion to receive the vessel, STX Patraikos.

The FIX service provides the EXIM trade in North West India with an added choice to access the Asian markets and a direct sailing to Karachi. The port rotation for the FIX Service is: Kwangyang – Busan – Shanghai – Ningbo – Kaohsiung – Singapore –Nhava Sheva – Pipavav – Karachi – Port Klang – Singapore - Kwangyang.

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The expansion of the Panama Canal, now postponed until April 2015, will make room for vessels with a capacity of up to 13,000 TEU

(only fiddlers below 4,400 TEU are now allowed).

Over time it would mean a shift of business away from Long Beach to the east coast and Gulf of Mexico ports. Then there is the growth of non traditional trade routes – another milestone in the long shift of economic power from rich, industrial economies to middle-income and developing ones.

According to the World Bank, the value of South-South trade now exceeds South-North trade. In 2002, developing countries bought only 40 per cent of total developing country exports; the rest went to rich nations. In 2010, the share was divided evenly. Now the developing country’s share is larger; their share of the world trade doubled, from 16 per cent in 1991 to 32 per cent in 2011.

China will overtake the US and be the number one in global trade by 2030. An OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Forecast

Guest ColumnLogistics Issues

Intermodal Transport Emergence of new horizons

With the shift of global trade centres from West to East, the role of multimodal transport in India will be tremendous. However, the country has a long way to go, albeit the presence of a strong railway network. An integrated approach and pragmatic policy framework can only utilise the ensuing opportunities for the logistics industry.

Raghu Dayal Former MD, Container Corporation of India

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of the top 25 bilateral trade pairs also shows some ‘newcomers’, such as India, Nigeria, Indonesia and Malaysia. These developments will lead to the creation of new transport corridors, especially between Asia and Africa, Asia and South America as well as between Asian countries.

Product profile changesThe value of trade is growing much faster than its weight. This compositional shift is happening both across products (the shift away from bulk and towards manufacturing) and within manufacturing products.

Current demographic shifts highlight the reality of ageing population, mostly in OECD countries, and a rising middle class in leading emerging economies. There is supremacy in the demand for precision, speed and coordination in anticipating customer needs down to the store level.

Higher income countries import higher quality goods. Speed in delivery today is itself an important characteristic of product quality. As a result, air transport is picking up. At present about 30 per cent of world trade (by value) moves by air. Over the next twenty years, world air cargo will treble and the freighter fleet will double and Asia will account for highest growth rates. The region will move towards open sky policies, larger and faster planes, dedicated freight services and development of cargo hubs.

China and India will lead the wayWith global GDP doubling by 2030, airline traffic worldwide could grow by around 4.7 per cent per annum over 2010-30. Air freight could increase by around 5.9 per cent pa over the same period. On the other hand, maritime container traffic could increase by more than 6 per cent pa. Air freight could triple in 20 years and port handing of maritime containers worldwide could quadruple.

The highest economic growth is expected in the Asia-Pacific region. China and India would lead the way, with many other economies also growing strongly. GDP per capita levels in China and India could increase three to four times by 2030. Among the developed country regions, North America’s GDP could be 50 per cent higher and Europe’s 40 per cent higher by 2030.

Rapidly increasing volumes can be

expected, particularly along major trade and transport corridors between the largest regions, i.e. Asia (China, India), Europe and North America.

Transport: A strategic SectorTransportation is considered a transaction cost factor and a critical variable in the corporate decision process. Transport and logistics costs most often pose a larger barrier than tariffs.

According to a WTO Report (Trade in a Globalising World), spending on shipping for world imports in 2004 was three times higher than spending on tariffs. Logistics (like a country’s bloodstream) has become an integral part of the production process and there is a paradigm change in transport itself. It is today an integrated logistics service, involving the convergence of traditional transport infrastructure with the world of bits and bytes.

Importance of Railways About 65 per cent of cargo movement in India is bulk and 75 per cent of traffic moves over 400 km or more. Over 60 per cent containers are carried by road over distances up to 150 km. Another 11 per cent moves over distances of 151-300 km. Rest of the container movement is more than 300 km.

Indian Railways (IR) has been losing market share, mainly to road transport. Rail freight is overwhelmingly patronised by captive customers for whom railways is the only option. According to a McKinsey

report, rail share can increase up to 46 per cent by 2020 and 50 per cent by 2030.

Indian Railways should extract more from existing assets. India’s infrastructure development programmes have typically focussed more on building new infrastructure as opposed to maintaining and extracting better services from existing assets. Over 10 per cent of the existing rail and road network capacity can be unlocked by upgrading existing assets.

More investment to be allocated to rail and reallocating within roads and rail. The allocation to railways needs to increase by more than 50 per cent with large sums spent on building high-density traffic corridors, connectors and last mile links.

Recent history’s most important change-agent railways failed to adapt and grow. Although still recognised as the nation’s life-line, IR has steadily ceded its dominance in India’s transport market. Its capacity is required to grow exponentially.

It is imperative that railways should be a leader in the rapidly evolving world of logistics – with a customer-centric marketing strategy. Besides handling its traditional core business of high volume dense cargo streams over long distances, it must devise innovative operational strategies to woo and win LTL freight.

Big is beautiful, small is no lessRailways can ill afford to ignore retail

Country 2009 2010 2011 2010 2011 -2009 -2010

China 107 963 180 128 929 895 138 391 031 19.42 7.34

Singapore 26 592 800 29 178 500 30 722 470 9.72 5.29

Hong Kong 21 040 096 23 699 242 24 404 000 12.64 2.97

Republic of Korea 15 699 161 18 537 801 20 809 210 18.08 12.25

Malaysia 15 859 938 18 244 650 19 808 658 15.04 8.57

United Arab Emirates 14 425 039 15 174 023 16 752 724 5.19 10.40

Taiwan 11 352 097 12 501 107 13 463 919 10.12 7.70

India 8 011 810 9 752 908 9 951 310 21.73 2.03

Indonesia 7 243 557 8 371 058 8 884 888 15.57 6.14

World Total 472 273 661 540 693 119 572 834 421 14.49 5.94

Container port throughput for top ten developing countries: (TEU)

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Guest ColumnLogistics Issues

freight market, notwithstanding its core strength lying in wholesale business of dense volumes in full train loads. Currently, more than 1000 mt of originating freight in India is non-bulk, most of which is transported by road.

Railways carry a miniscule volume of piecemeal general goods traffic. Rail freight business needs to be redimensioned. To cater to retail market railways need to develop wagons with weight and volume capacity 3-4 times that of a truck. Also it needs to use standardised pallets like airline ULDs, besides road-railers/trailers and product-specific vehicles for value-added logistics.

Rail freight calls for integrated multimodal transport service. It necessitates selected nodes, yards, terminals and sidings for consolidation. Assistance by way of common user infrastructure of terminals will help in this regard.

IR has to radically change its approach and incentivise Container Train Operators (CTOs), for example, in FAK (freight of all kinds) pricing and guaranteed transits for substantial rail retail business to be won over. They may well be valuable partners for IR. It may yield good results with nominated day direction-wise loadings and clearances.

India’s growth at riskIndia’s logistics infrastructure is

inadequate to support the annual growth rates of 7- 9 per cent. Around $45b is lost every year to logistics inefficiencies. Indian Railways arterial network remains saturated. Demand far outstrips supply of rail transport. While operating 12,000 passenger trains, transporting 23 million passengers daily, it carries just about, 10 per cent of country’s total passenger traffic. Similarly, running another 7,000 freight trains daily, it carries almost 3mt of goods, mostly bulk commodities.

A Mckinsey study unveiled that India’s logistics infrastructure delivery is characterised by high costs and low service levels. Rail infrastructure is not properly aligned with the production and distribution centres. The continuing shortfall in logistics infrastructure will

put India’s growth at risk. However, IR’s ambitious Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project may well be the game-changer.

An integrated worldImproving connectivity for users hinges on seamless co-operation between the players. Seamlessness is a state of mind as much as it is a technical concept. The focus is on exploiting comparative advantages and creating synergies with other modes. The individual modes must not compete with each other; they should rather complement each other. The focus should be on exploiting comparative advantages and creating synergies with other modes – such as code-sharing agreements between airlines and railway companies, or auto manufacturers moving into the car-sharing business.

Intermodal transport industry is continuing to evolve and, in so doing, it is becoming increasingly integrated with supply chain management. It is pertinent to mention that containerisation could spread inland with the deregulation and privatisation trends that began in the 1980s in the US,. The shipping lines were among the first to exploit the intermodal opportunities that the US deregulation permitted. They could offer door-to-door rates to customers by integrating rail services and local truck pick-up and delivery in a seamless network. Many seaports as well as shipping lines integrate vertically to control hinterland transport.

Potential of the BoxContainer traffic growth needs to be anticipated at twice the rate of the country’s GDP growth. It will call for expeditiously modernising and expanding port infrastructure as well as intermodal connectivity. Containerisation in the country has a scope to expand to an optimal 70-80 per cent level of non-bulk general cargo in international trade.

The huge potential of containerisation of domestic cargo offers opportunities for an exponential growth in the sector.

For India to be a major destination for outsourcing its logistics infrastructure and practices will need to rise to the best among world standards. More than low labour cost arbitrage it is proper logistics support that will enable the country to remain ahead of the pack.

Rail freight calls for integrated

multimodal transport service. It necessitates

selected nodes, yards, terminals and

sidings for consolidation

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The container train privatisation aim was to accelerate seamless transportation of EXIM goods from port to hinterland and back.

Accordingly, the responsibility and accountability of private container train operators (CTOs) was huge. However, from the very beginning the CTOs expressed serious concern over various policy issues.

Speaking to Cargotalk, LR Thapar, MD, Rail Operations, Hind Terminals, said, factors that are affecting the role of CTOs are multiple. “Movement of trains is controlled by IR. On the other hand, there is severe infrastructure constraint. Lack of loco availability, restrictions on handling of essential commodities, closed circuit movement of rakes and maintenance issues, increased turn around time of container trains in eastern sector, pricing of rail transport, frequent increase in rail tariff, competition with road transport and non-

availability of rail terminals are other crucial issues hampering our growth,” he argued.

In addition, construction of terminal buildings is a huge challenge before the CTOs. Identification of land, proximity to catchment areas, away from population, land acquisition and consolidation related to railway siding requirement and land cost are also the critical issues that need to be addressed at the earliest.

“The Public Private Partnership (PPP) is not that successful. The need is to give

more freedom and flexibility to CTOs. The PPP should be very prompt and hassle-free. Otherwise, CTOs will have to shut their shops,” Thapar maintained. However, on a positive note, Thapar informed that Hind Terminals was planning to strengthen its operations by launching one more container terminal by 2013. Currently, the company operates 14 container trains—9 from NCR Delhi and 5from Ludhiana to different ports in India. He was quite optimistic that the containerised cargo market will grow from five to ten per cent in 2013-14.

In ConversationContainer Train Operators

Container Train OperatorsName No. of Rakes

Arshiya Rail International 20Innovative B2B Logistics 12Boxtrans Logistics 12Concor 204Container Rail Road Service 7CWC 0ETA Freight Star 11Gateway Rail 22Hind Terminals 14India Infrastructure & Logistics 9KRIBHCO Infrastructure 2SMART 5Trans Rail Logistics 2

LR Thapar MD, Rail Operations

Hind Terminals

The Ministry of Railways, Government of India a few years ago liberalised container train operations by inviting private operators. Some 14 private operators registered themselves with Indian Railways against the prescribed registration fees. However, it appears, the private companies are now struggling for their survival owing to irrational policies.

ICDs in NCR and Punjab REGION LOCATION OPERATOR Dhandari Kalan CONCOR Sahnwewal Gateway Distriparks Ltd. Dhappar CONCORPunjab Kila Raipur Adani (Planned) Suranaussi CONCOR (Planned) Chawapail Pristine (Planned)

Tughlakabad CONCOR Dadri CONCOR Garhi Gateway Distriparks Ltd. Noli WWIL Asauti Gateway Distriparks Ltd. Patli Inland Conware Pvt. Ltd. (Adani) Balabhgarh CONCOR Rewari CONCORDelhi NCR Faridabad Associated Container Terminal Ltd. Bawal Sanjvik (Planned) Palwal HTPL (Planned) Asauti Inland Conware Pvt. Ltd. (Adani) (Planned) Khurja Ashriya International. (Planned) Bhodwal JM Baxi (Planned) Dewana IILPL (Planned) Palwal ETA Freight Star (Planned)

CTOs seek friendly policyto survive the testing times

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Realising the need to upgrade rail infrastructure, under its long-term strategic plan, the Ministry of Railways through the DFCCIL

(Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation Limited of India) has proposed to construct six high capacity corridors with speed potential of 100 kmph along the Golden Quadrilateral and its diagonals. In the first phase, two corridors, the Western and the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridors have been approved and taken up.

The objective of the ASSOCHAM Conference was to discuss various issues and opportunities in DFCs. It focussed on removing procedural bottlenecks and finding strategy options to

accelerate private investment for speedy implementation of the DFC projects. It is worth mentioning that for the development of the DFCs the government is inviting large scale private participation with funding from World Bank, Japan Industrial Corporation Agency (JICA, and even on PPP mode in association with DFCCIL.

The ASSOCHAM conference pointed out that large infrastructure projects like DFCs are critical drivers of the national economy and are being seen as an opportunity to adopt international best practices through latest technology, system, design, and business processes. The government has also announced development of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) alongside the Western DFC for the development of market-oriented industrial areas, investment regions, industrial parks, ports and airports and six mega multi-modal logistic parks at different locations along the corridor. In order to optimise productive use, longer and heavier trains have been proposed to ply on these DFCs such as double deck container with capacity of 32.5 tonne axle load rolling stock. These corridors would be constructed and maintained by a corporate entity on commercial principles by DFCCIL while relying on modern technological solutions, and operated by the Ministry of Railways.

Inaugurated by Pawan Kumar Bansal, Minister of Railways, the international conference was attended by a large number of national and international stakeholders. The industry stakeholders included

Industry AssociationsASSOCHAM Conference

Pawan Kumar Bansal releasing the ASSOCHAM-Yes Bank study paper titled ‘Corridors For India’s Economic Development’ along with (from L to R) Rajkumar Dhoot, D.S. Rawat, and Dr AK Agarwal

In view of the fact that Indian Railways is the third largest Rail network in the world under a single integrated management and Railway modernisation can contribute almost two per cent increse in India’s GDP, capacity enhancement will be a serious task. A recently held ASSOCHAM Conference underlined the importance of the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs), which are expected to be the game changers in this context.

Dedicated Freight Corridors:Railway Minister updates construction status

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RK Gupta, MD, DFCCIL; Abhishek Chaudhary, Vice President, Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC); Tushar Pandey, Senior President and Country Head, Yes Bank; Rajkumar Dhoot, President, ASSOCHAM; AK Agarwal, Chairman, ASSOCHAM National Committee on Rail Transport and CEO Autometers Alliance, and DS Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM.

“To meet the needs of DFCs as far as huge investment is concerned, we have to encourage and invite private sector participation to the maximum extent possible. We are addressing the specific concerns of the industry through participative models and we are getting a good response to it,” said Bansal.

Bansal also maintained that there has been a huge demand for increasing movement of goods but the railway’s’ share of goods traffic has been falling vis-à-vis that of roads due to the construction of roads being achieved at a priority basis because the project cost is much less than laying down railway tracks.

The minister highlighted that the share of railways in goods traffic was more than 80 per cent a few years ago, which has now come down to 36 per cent. “There is a need to have heavier, longer and faster traffic carrying rail heads considering the cost benefits, impact on environment and capacity of railways to carry goods at a faster speed and in a much larger quantity,” he said.

He underlined the fact that Railways is 6-10

times more efficient in carrying goods as compared to goods carried by road. “We need dedicated freight corridors for further growth of the country as presently 60 per cent of goods traffic by freight is confined to 16 per cent of rail network making it saturated, leading to delay of traffic on railway lines for both passenger and freight trains,” Bansal added.

The minister also informed that pre-feasibility of all six dedicated freight corridors identified across the country has been done and of these the Eastern Corridor on Ludhiana-Dankuni and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor have been put on a priority basis with total cost of Rs 95,000 crore including land acquisition costs. “These two projects for the first time are seeing good tangible progress as more than 87 per cent land has been acquired and bridges have been built,” he informed.

The 1499 km long Western DFC starts from Jawahar Lal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai and ends at Dadri/Tughlakabad (Near Delhi), while the 1839 km long Eastern DFC starts from Ludhiana (Punjab) and ends at Dankuni (Near Kolkata). Initial funding agreements for Western DFC through JICA and part of Eastern DFC (Ludhiana-Khurja-Kanpur-Mughalsarai) through the World Bank have already been formalised while Mughalsarai-Sonnagar section of Eastern DFC is being implemented through own resources of the Ministry of Railways. Remaining 534 km Sonnagar-Dankuni section of Eastern DFC is proposed to be implemented through PPP. The DFCs will be able to carry the heavier axle paving the

way for transporting 10,000 to12,000 tonne freight per rake which is about three times more than the existing tracks.

Bansal said that Ministry of Railways has formulated a policy framework for private participation in rail connectivity and capacity augmentation projects which contains five models. He said that first-mile, and last-mile and inter-connecting lines for the entire freight commodity basket would be covered under the policy. The policy would provide the much-needed impetus to building of critical missing links in the railway network and evacuation from ports, mines and big industrial units and plants.

Providing an update about the progress of private freight terminals, Bansal said that the role of the private sector in this regard has not been satisfactory. “We have found lesser efforts on the part of private players to build more private freight terminals, to generate more traffic and attract more customers to it. The efforts have to be directed towards further growth,” he pointed out.

Commenting on the containerised traffic, Bansal asserted that the Ministry of Railways has recently addressed the concerns of the container train operators and have reduced haulage charges for them. The minister also emphasised on promoting containerisation. “We have responded to the industry’s concerns on tariff policy and we are open on this issue and take steps in this direction while engaging with the industry in this regard.”

Supplementing Bansal, Gupta said that a very unique contracting strategy called ‘Design build and lump sum’ has been adopted in DFC for the first time for developing rail infrastructure in the country. Commenting on the progress in DFC he said that the first major civil contract covering a length of about 343 kms has recently been awarded and the company was in an advanced stage of awarding another contract for abut 650 kms length. “The procurement action on all the segments of the project is in various stages of progress and we hope to award the contract to cover over 1500 kms of route by the end of the current financial year,” Gupta informed.

The Minister also released the ASSOCHAM-YES BANK Knowledge Report ‘Corridors for India’s Economic Development’ at the conference.

Industry AssociationsASSOCHAM Conference

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The state owned Port Dunkerque is the 3rd French port in terms of volume. In 2012 the port handled 46.7 million tonne cargo. Classified

as the 7th port of North Europe extending from the Port of Le Havre to Hamburg, Port Dunkerque is also France’s leading port for ore and coal imports, containerised fruit imports, copper imports and France’s second-ranking port for trade with Great Britain. Located on the North Sea, the port offers excellent accessibility to shipping and large land reserves. The port extends along a frontage of 17 km and has two entries for shipping: the older, to the east, which is restricted to ships with draughts of 14.2 metres (Eastern Port), and the other to the west, which is more recent and can accommodate ships with draughts of up to 22 metres (Western Port).

The port’s territory covers 7,000 hectares and includes ten towns: Dunkerque, Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, Fort-Mardyck, Grande-Synthe, Mardyck, Loon-Plage, Gravelines, Craywick, Saint-Georges-sur-l’Aa and Bourbourg.

“Situated 40 km from the English port of Dover, 10 km from the Belgian frontier, close to the city of Lille and at the heart of the Brussels-London-Paris triangle with a market of more than hundred million consumers,

Dunkerque is the ideal platform for goods consolidation and redistribution in Europe. All the terminals of the port have excellent road, barges and railway connections,” said Deschodt.

“Apart from our core strength on ore and coal handling we can handle all kinds of cargoes and the largest ships. We are expecting very good volume of cargo from India,” he added. One year ago, the French shipping line CMA CGM started a weekly direct service between Dunkerque, Nhava Sheva (JNPT) and Mundra ports. In addition, MSC also started a weekly transshipment service on this route. “Our main aim is to make Indian shippers aware of the advantages

at Port Dunkerque, which offers hassle free services with less transit time and less expenses. “It is expected there will be huge demand especially from this market and as a result shipping lines will be keen to increase their frequency or capacity,” Deschodt observed. He is confident that in the near future Port Dunkerque will be able to surpass the volume handled by its competitor ports, viz Antwerp (Belgium) and Rotterdam (Holland) because of its geographical position. According to him, there is huge possibility of export of temperature controlled and perishable cargo from India, apart from traditional cargo like textiles. “We have excellent draft, terminal and logistics facilities to cater to all kinds of ships and cargo,” asserted Deschodt.

Logistics FacilitiesThe 470 acre ‘Dunkerque Logistique International’ park, with rail transshipment facilities can accommodate large warehouse, which complete the Dunkerque offer—Dunfrost (sub-zero temperature warehouse), Dunfresh (fruits and vegetables warehouse), MGF (equipment and mineral water), Banalliance (fruit warehouse), Daily Fresh (fruit and vegetable platform), TOG (tinned food), DHL and TLN.

“Ideally situated near the city of Lille, in the heart of the London-Paris-Brussels triangle, Dunkirk has made the most of its geographic location and its excellent road and rail links to develop logistics and distribution activities in the port. Its geographic location is ideal for serving London and south-east England, Benelux and north-eastern France,” Deschodt stressed. Dunkirk is a major centre for the distribution of fruit and other goods imported by sea and for distribution to Great Britain. Accordingly, Port Dunkerque is eyeing huge transshipment cargo from India.

Shipping & PortInternational Port

The Port of Dunkerque Zooms in on India as source market The Port of Dunkerque is well known as a port handling heavy bulk cargoes for its numerous industrial installations. The port is now emphasising more on the Indian market with an array of other services including cross-channel Ro-Ro traffic, containerised general cargo and perishable cargo. In an interview with Cargotalk, Daniel Deschodt, Commercial Director, Dunkerque Port, highlights the advantages of the port.

Daniel DeschodtCommercial Director, Dunkerque

Port

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Family AlbumGet Together

The Port of DunkerqueMeets freight forwarders to showcase facilitiesRecently, a delegation from the Port of Dunkerque (France), which was headed by Daniel Deschod, Commercial Director of the port, met leading freight forwarders in Delhi in an evening function. The objective of the event was to highlight the facilities available for the shippers at this strategically located transshipment port.

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Freezone Sohar is managed by Sohar Industrial Port Company of which Port of Rotterdam and the Sultanate of Oman are shareholders in a 50-50

joint venture. Freezone Sohar Company, LLC, is a joint venture between Sohar International Development Company and leading infrastructure development company, SKIL Infrastructure India. There are more than 20 large scale international companies that have already set up operations at the Sohar Free Zone.

The region is now aggressively looking at India as a major investor. Already Sohar witnessed successful investments by diversified Indian businesses such as Jindal Steel & Power, KLJ Group (the leading manufacturer and the market leader in plasticisers and polymer compounds in South Asia) and INDSIL (leader in alloy manufacturing amongst others). A number of Indian companies are also showing interest in setting up transport and manufacturing hubs in Sohar.

A Strategic LocationOman borders the Republic of Yemen to the Southwest, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the West and the United Arab Emirates to the North. With an area of over 300,000 sqkm, geographically Oman is one of the most diverse countries of the Peninsula.

Oman’s coastline borders the Sea of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The strategically important Strait of Hormuz is the only stretch of water between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean and is therefore, a vital route for the transportation of crude oil, gas and cargo.

Sohar lies at the centre of the Al Batinah region, in the North of Oman. This is a prime area for investment. With its geographical location, economic resources and high population density, the Batinah region has played an important part in Oman’s history. It has always been the country’s maritime and commercial outlet to the Gulf and the Indian Ocean and its mineral resources have provided the basis for several important heavy industries. Today the Port of Sohar and Freezone are one of the Sultanate’s economic mega-projects.

‘Gateway Sohar’ comprises upcoming Sohar Aiport and the railway network, Port of Sohar and Freezone Sohar.

Sohar AirportSohar Airport, which is likely to be operational by 2014 is about 10km northwest of Sohar. It will help avoid the two hour long drive from either Muscat or Dubai. Sohar and the wider Batinah region have in recent years attracted industrial and commercial infrastructure investments. Moreover, cargo to Sohar is expected to increase in volume due to expected congestion at Sultan Qaboos Port in Muscat. The airport will also serve as a new

In FocusLogistics Hub

Freezone Sohar woos Indian 3PL companies

Destination

Freezone Sohar in Oman is one of the country’s biggest economic undertakings with around 4,500 hectares of land set aside for trade and logistics, manufacturing and distribution. In an interview with Cargotalk Neelima Vyas, Chief Operating Officer, Freezone Sohar, elaborates on the advantages and facilities for Indian shippers and logistics service providers.

RATAN KR PAUL

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gateway for passenger, cargo and courier traffic in northern Oman and a domestic and emergency alternative to Muscat International Airport.

The airport will add to a modern multimodal transport network that will fuel further economic growth in the Batinah region. It is being built within the proximity of the major commercial, industrial and economic centres of Sohar including the Port of Sohar Special Economic Zone and will compliment the future plans for a major expressway and rail network which will underpin the port city’s eventual transformation into a major industrial and economic hub on the Batinah coast.

Sohar PortPort of Sohar is a deep sea port in the Middle East situated in the Sultanate of Oman, 220km northwest of its capital Muscat. The management of this industrial port lies with Sohar Industrial Port Company SAOC (SIPC), a 50/50 joint venture between the Government of Oman and the Port of Rotterdam.

The original agreement between the two parties was signed in 2002. Today, the port is fully operational with state-of-the-art facilities. With current investments exceeding $14billion it is one of the world’s largest port development projects.

Located just outside the Strait of Hormuz, Port of Sohar is within easy reach of the booming economies of the Gulf and the Indian subcontinent and has good connectivity to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain and Muscat. The biggest consumer market in the region, Saudi Arabia, can be reached directly from Sohar.

Port of Sohar houses three clusters: logistics, petrochemicals and metals. World-leading companies Vale, Air Liquide, Larsen & Toubro, Methanol Holding International, Jindal Power & Steel are to be found in Port of Sohar. Terminals are operated by world class leading companies: Steinweg for general cargo, Odfjell/Oiltanking for liquid cargo and Hutchinson Wampoa OICT for containers.

India and Oman Bilateral RelationsSince the 1970s, the Sultanate of Oman has rapidly entered the modern world. Today, it is an economically, politically, and socially progressive country. The country is a strategic partner in the Gulf and

an important interlocutor in the bilateral, Association of Gulf Cooperation Council (AGCC) and Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) contexts. Oman also accords a high priority to its ties with India. Pointed out Vyas, “India and Oman are linked by geography, history and culture. Both countries enjoy warm and cordial relations, which can be ascribed to historical maritime trade linkages, intimacy of the royal family with India and the crucial role of the Indian expatriate community in the building of Oman.”

Bilateral Trade In 2010 India ranked fifth largest source of imports into Oman after the UAE, Japan,United States and China. In the same year India ranked second as the destination of Omani non-oil exports after UAE and third as the top destination of Omani crude oil exports after China. There are around 140 Indian companies in Oman. As for the Foreign Direct Investment in Oman from India, there are around 1527 Indian-Omani joint ventures, covering almost 13 socio-economic sectors with a total investment of US$ 7.53 billion in which Indian participation is estimated at around US$ 4.52 billion.

In the financial year 2010- 2011, bilateral trade jumped to US$ 5.1 billion from US$ 4.5 billion in 2009-10. Balance of trade is in Oman’s favour due to the export of fertilisers and spot purchase of oil & gas by India.

Major items of Indian exports are textiles and garments, machinery and equipment, electrical and electronic items, chemicals, iron and steel products in

addition to traditional items like tea, coffee, spices, rice and meat products and seafood.

Major Omani export commodities are urea, LNG (through spot purchase), polypropylene, lubricating oil, dates and chromite ore.

There are 581,832 legally registered Indian workers in Oman. The total number of Indian in Oman is

over 700,000. It is estimated that some 2,000 Indian doctors work in Oman in Government hospitals and in clinics in the private sector.Currently, Air India, Jet Airways and IndiGo are operating regular flights from Muscat to Mumbai. Oman Air also operates regular flights to various destinations in India. Once Sohar Airport is completed it is expected that a number of flights will be operated between this Free Zone and India.

At present there is prominent Indian presence in various sectors like oil and gas, mining, manufacturing, IT & telecom, power & water, construction, real estate & consultancy, healthcare, warehousing & logistics, railway sector and steel etc.

“Freezone Sohar is all set to attract Indian investors including the logistics companies. The Phase-I is completely ready to cater to the industry’s multi-product requirements. As soon as the demand increases, the work for Phase-II will commence,” said Vyas. She also informed that in the meanwhile the Freezone is receiving tremendous feedback from different verticals in India. A regular shipping service between Mundra and Sohar ports is in place. According to her, Sohar Port has excellent facilities for container movement and is very lucrative for transshipment cargo traffic, both for hinterland and beyond Oman. The port is targetting automobile and pharmaceutical exports from India in a big way, to position Sohar as a cost-effective transit hub among UAE and Gulf region.

“To promote the Freezone we will intensify our marketing and promotional activities in the days to come by organising road shows, participating in trade fairs and interacting with industry people across India,” shared Vyas.

Incentives Available at Sohar

100% foreign ownership 10 year corporate tax holiday No customs duties on goods brought into the Freezone

No restrictions on sales to the local market

One stop shop for all relevant clearance

Neelima VyasChief Operating Officer

Freezone Sohar

In FocusLogistics Hub

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According to Singh, a fair number of central cases brought by completion agencies around the world directly or indirectly involve

a trade association for some cases like Price Fixing, Terms and Conditions of sale and Sharing of Customers and/or markets.

There are many ways in which an association may fix prices such as: Fixing the actual price charged by association members; setting a target price or minimum price. Formulation of standard/common terms and conditions to be applied by members in their trading relationships. Trade and professional associations are sometimes directly involved in an exclusive territory for marketing arrangements on behalf of their members.

They may also be involved in conclusive trading and bid rigging.

Some other activities they may practise are: Unduly restrictive membership rules, the exchange of detail commercial information, the setting of exclusive/closed industry standards, the imposition of marketing restrictions and the adoption of codes on pricing practices or on other trading practices which limit members’ ability to compete freely.

Shipping Industry Shipping industry is one of the most globalised industries in the world. Over 90 per cent of world trade is carried out by the international shipping industry. Approximately 95 per cent of India’s international trade by volume and 70 per cent by value are seaborne. Competition Concerns are related to Liner Conferences, Alliances and Consortia and Discussion Agreement.

Singh maintains that there should be a widespread international practice that cargo liners meet at regular conferences to fix prices and quotas for individual routes.

The actions at such conferences that raise concerns can be broadly divided into three categories: 1. Steps to control competition between member shipping companies (price discrimination and price and output rules), 2. Steps to prevent shippers from using non-member shipping companies (loyalty contracts), 3. Steps to directly eliminate non-member shipping companies (predatory pricing behaviour).

Unlike shipping conferences, consortiums and alliances coordinate space charter for container vessels, the shared use of terminals and shipping schedules rather than determining shipping rates or surcharges. “This means that although they do not necessarily fall under the category of cartels, consortium and alliance agreements may be looked at by CCI by the rule of reason,” said Singh.

In his opinion, a discussion agreement is a sort of framework agreement by virtue of which carriers, which are members of conferences and outsiders are able to coordinate flexibly their competitive conduct on the market in relation to freight rates and other service conditions. Discussion agreements normally involve the exchange of sensitive business information between competitors thereby raising competition concerns.

“As per its advocacy function, CCI has been interacting with associations on a continuous basis right from inception. The associations are welcome to visit the Commission’s office, interact with the officials and invite them to speak to their members on ways to comply with the law,” he informed.

He further shared that the Commission would encourage all associations and their members to put in place a Competition Compliance Programme.

ViewpointRole of Associations

Competition Compliance ProgrammeCCI interacts with associationsTrade/business associations have historically played an important role. And an even larger role in the open market economy. Trade associations may serve as a platform for activities that restrict competition, says PK Singh, Advisor and Head, Anti-Trust Division, Competition Commission of India.

As put of its advocacy function, CCI

has been interacting with associations on a

continuous basis right from the inception.

The associations are welcome to visit

interact with the

PK Singh Advisor and Head, Anti-Trust Division,

Competition Commission of IndiaThe Competition ActThe Competition Act, 2002, as amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, follows the philosophy of modern competition laws. The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and M&A), which causes or is likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.

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