The future of Indian ports may belong to the private sector. The private sector's share of cargo handling increased to 34% in 2009-10, compared with 27% a year ago and just 5% nearly a decade ago.
The ICRA report said that “We anticipate the private sector will handle nearly 50 per cent of Indian cargo in the next five years.” It is observed that the private sector would play a larger role in the Indian context, as is evident from its growing share in the cargo mix; its dominance in the upcoming and proposed green-field ventures; its increasing presence at major ports through PPP (private public partnership) projects and its active participation in port support and logistics activities.
Among the main private sector ports are the Mundra port (among the larger ports, by cargo volume) and Pipavav port both in Gujarat. The green field ports commissioned in the recent past (2008-09 and onwards) include Krishnapatnam and Gangavaram (in Andhra Pradesh), Karaikal (in Tamil Nadu), and Jaigarh in Maharashtra. These ports commenced their first-phase operations and have lined up subsequent expansion phases with mega capacities.
Some of the green-field port ventures expected to be commissioned in the near term include the Dhamra port in Orissa; Adani (Petronet) Dahej's solid cargo port terminal in Gujarat; Dighi port in Maharashtra and Gopalpur port in Orissa. While success stories of private port ventures are encouraging, at the same time, the green-field port ventures in India are besieged by problems at various stages. These include problems faced in land acquisition and environmental clearances, resulting in cost and time over runs, besides delays in connectivity projects involving road and rail networks.
Cargo traffic at Indian ports reported a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% from 579 million tonnes in 2005-06 to 846 million tonnes in 2009-10, driven by the growth in GDP and in trading activity (exports and imports). Traffic flows posted a CAGR of 16% between 2005-06 and 2009-10 at non major ports and 7% at the major ports (the lower growth rate of the latter to be seen in the context of a larger base).
In 2009-10, major ports accounted for 66% of the total cargo handled and the non major ports for the rest 34%.
According to the projections on cargo in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012), India's port traffic would cross the 1,000 million tonnes mark by 2011-12 which, considering the recovery trend in cargo growth in 2009-10, appears plausible. However, on the supply side, constraints are likely to arise, considering the pace of implementation of projects under both Government and private initiatives,
(Sourced from BL)
