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 Date:3/26/2009

 

World News
Security Measures
India takes steps to tighten port security following last November’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Indian minister of shipping, road transport and highways, Thiru TR Baalu, has asked the directorate general of shipping to undertake a special audit of port security in all the major ports of the country to ensure compliance of all security measures.

The government is planning to install equipment on all major ports to scan cargo containers, set up a marine commando force, increase the number of security personnel and buy speedboats to help in search operations. Port administrations are also planning to install IT gadgets like Radio Frequency Identification tags in trucks. The speedboats alone are likely to cost around Rs 400-500 million (US$8.3- $10.4 million). Baalu also gave directions to buy new CCTVs, which would cost another Rs 10 million (US$0.2 million) for each port.

Baalu held a meeting to review the security arrangements at the ports under the administrative control of his ministry, since the sea route played the most important role in the attack on Mumbai: The terrorists travelled all the way from Kutch via ship and then arrived on Mumbai shores on an inflatable boat.

The minister has also asked all the port chairpersons to immediately send their security requisitions to the concerned security agencies, especially to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to ensure that security issues are not compromised at any cost.

The meeting was attended by high level representatives of the navy, coast guard, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), and ministry of home affairs besides all the port chairmen.

The Central Industrial Force has been asked to deploy a marine commando unit in every port and to raise bomb disposal squads and dog squads separately for each port.

It was also decided that the Coast Guard would be authorized to rummage all suspicious merchant vessels prior to port entry. Similarly, customs would also inspect the vessels at outer anchorage and within port limits.

India, which is bordered by Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, has a long coastline spanning about 7,600 kilometres, forming one of the biggest peninsulas in the world. It has an extensive network of inland waterways and seaports. The inland waterways include rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks. The total navigable length of inland waterways is 14,500 km. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India.

India has 12 major ports – Calcutta, Haldia, Paradip, Visakhapatanam, Ennore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, JNPT, Mumbai and Kandla – and about 185 minor and intermediate ports. With these ports handling more than 95 percent of the cargo entering India, they act as a major trade gateway.

According to the Indian Ports Association, the 12 major ports together handled a total of 519.24 million tonnes (MT) of cargo in 2007-08, an increase of 11.94 percent over 463.78 MT handled in 2006-07. Further, the total cargo traffic handled by the 12 ports during April-September 2008-09 has been 261.73 MT against 244.14 MT in the last corresponding fiscal period.

Cargo throughput at the 12 ports has been rising by a compound annual growth rate of 9.5 percent over the past three years.

Container throughput at India's 12 major ports increased by 19.03 percent year-on-year for the fiscal year 2008. The 12 major ports handled 6.60 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in the 12 months up to March 2008. Navi Mumbai's Jawaharlal Nehru port (Nhava Sheva) handled 4.06 million TEUs, which was above 61 percent of the overall throughput.

Container throughput at Jawaharlal Nehru port increased by 23 percent year-on-year, establishing it as India's largest and busiest port.

During April to June 2008, container throughput at Indian ports totaled 1,056,556 TEUs, exhibiting growth of 12.18 percent year on year. If the current growth rate of 19 percent is maintained, India's container throughput is likely to reach 21 million TEUs per year by 2016.

Further, according to a study by ICRA, driven by a buoyant world economy and high growth in merchandise exports, Indian port traffic is estimated to grow at the rate of 10-12 percent per annum during 2007-12. Overall port traffic at both major and minor ports is estimated to grow from 588.63 MT in 2006-07 to 1008.95 MT by 2012.

This projected increase in port traffic will in turn necessitate capacity expansion of the ports. Already, 276 projects entailing an investment of US$ 13.70 billion have been identified. These include development of new berths, expansion and upgrading of existing berths, deepening of channels, equipment modernization and upgrading of rail and road connectivity.

By 2012, the Indian government targets increasing the cargo handling capacity of major ports by two folds to reach 1.5 billion metric tonnes. The investment is estimated at US$25 billion, and funds would be acquired through public-private partnerships. According to Crisil research estimates, ports will grow by 160 percent over the 2011-12 period.

The Indian federal government has set up the National Maritime Development Plan (NMDP) to improve facilities at India's 12 major ports and it plans an expenditure of around US$12.4 billion.

Under the plan, India's foremost container port, Jawaharlal Nehru, will be seeing a massive expansion and upgrade, with around US$1.78 billion slated for the development of port infrastructure, including the deepening and widening of its main navigational channel, over the next five years.

Further, by November 2009, the first phase of the international container transhipment terminal (ICTT) project at Vallarpadam in southern Indian state of Kerala is likely to be completed, and Kochi port in Kerala state will soon emerge as a transhipment hub for India. The construction work for the first phase of the international container transhipment terminal (ICTT) project is rolling speedily at Vallarpadam. This will make Kochi an important shipping centre, reducing India's dependence on foreign ports for transshipment.

India is also likely to emerge as a major destination for container operations. The liberalization of the economy has lead to a rapid growth of the container trade.

In addition, the classification of Indian ports into major, minor and intermediate has an administrative significance. Indian government has a federal structure, and according to its constitution, maritime transport falls under the "concurrent list," to be administered by both the federal and the state governments. While the Central Shipping Ministry administer the major ports, the minor and intermediate ports are administered by the relevant departments or ministries in the nine coastal states of West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Several of these 185 minor and intermediate ports are merely "notified," with little or no cargo handling actually taking place. These ports have been identified by the respective governments to be developed, in a phased manner, a good proportion involving public-private partnership.

Some 60 percent of India's container traffic is handled by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai. It has just nine berths compared to 40 in the main port of Singapore. It takes an average of 21 days to clear import cargo in India compared to just three in Singapore.

There are also seven shipyards under the control of the federal government of India, two shipyards controlled by state governments, and 19 privately owned shipyards.