Inter-ministerial meeting takes key decisions to address rising freight costs, shipping delays, shortage & non-availability of containers, congestion at ports among issues faced by exporters
An inter-ministerial meeting was held in New Delhi on Friday, under the chairmanship of Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Mr Piyush Goyal, to address rising freight costs, shipping delays, shortage & non-availability of containers and congestion at the ports leading to difficulties being faced by exporters and adverse impact on the trade.
Addressing the gathering, Mr Goyal said that the decisions taken by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ministry of Railways at the meeting will result in significantly bringing down shipping costs, improving the availability of containers, resolving the empty containers issue, faster evacuation of export consignments, and reducing congestion at the ports.
Free empty container storage
The Union Minister announced that the Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) has decided to allow empty containers to be stored for a period of 90 days in the yard at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) free of cost, and has also slashed the loading and handling charges significantly. The Chairman and CEO, Railway Board, Mr Satish Kumar, announced that the charge of Rs 3,000 being levied beyond 90 days has now been reduced to Rs 1,500. Further, storage and handling rates will be reduced for containers from Rs 9,000 to Rs 2,000 (for a 40 ft. container) and from Rs 6,000 to Rs 1,000 (for a 20 ft. container).
Mr Goyal urged all stakeholders to make concerted efforts to significantly mitigate the difficulties and address the issues faced by exporters, effectively deploy multi-disciplinary capabilities and adopt ‘whole of the government’ approach to ensure that exporters face no logistics difficulties. Given the current geopolitical tensions, the Red Sea Crisis, Houthi attacks, ongoing wars and their impact on international trade, there was a need to engage with a multi-disciplinary team, he said.
SCI to charter container ships
The Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) said that it will be chartering container ships to significantly increase container capacities. It was announced that capacity will be immediately enhanced by 9,000 TEUs. The SCI will also buy an additional five container ships to further boost cargo handling capacity. Shipping lines assured that all charges like container transportation and Lift on-Lift off at yards would be embedded in the delivery order given to shippers.
The Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Mr T. K. Ramachandran, announced that the port capacities have already been enhanced by 2.3 million TEUs. It was decided at the meeting that private container yards would have to mandatorily register themselves with GST authorities and that they would not accept any charges in cash in order to stop illegal profiteering arising out of shortage and delay.
The Chairman, JNPA, Mr Unmesh Sharad Wagh assured that steps have been taken to eliminate any congestion and bottlenecks. To enhance export-related processes, traffic delays near and around JNPA will be minimised and simultaneous container scanning at JNPA will be implemented for faster clearances and reduced turnaround time.
The Civil Aviation Secretary announced that all efforts will be taken to ensure faster movement of air cargo and reduce turnover time.
The Revenue Secretary, Mr Sanjay Malhotra, said that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) will ensure that Customs clearances at ports are expedited by simultaneous screening of two twenty feet containers.
It was also decided to set up a multidisciplinary help desk to support exporters.
Container availability for exporters
Representatives of exporters, led by Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), expressed satisfaction with the present availability of containers and said that the immediate steps being taken by the government would result in significantly easing congestion, delays and freight hikes, and would boost space availability on outbound container ships.
In his concluding remarks, Mr Goyal said that the government will continue to regularly monitor the situation, with the next review scheduled towards the end of October. Expressing satisfaction at the outcome of the meeting, he asserted that every department in government has contributed collectively to resolve the crises, resulting in significant reduction in shipping costs, increased availability of containers, and expedited evacuation of export consignments bringing down congestion at the ports.
The meeting was attended by representatives from Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce & Industry in New Delhi. Among the stakeholders, exporters & shippers (represented by FIEO), Container Corporation of India, Shipping Corporation of India, freight forwarder association, transporters, ICD/CFS operators and private shipping lines were present.
The meeting was convened to discuss and resolve concerns and reports related to rising freight costs, shipping delays, shortage & non-availability of containers, and congestion at the ports due to the geopolitical & economic scenario, leading to difficulties being faced by exporters and adverse impact on the trade. Collectively, decisions were taken to promote a trust-based working environment for faster processing of cargo for exports, highlighted an official communique.
Source:New Delhi