India’s First Major Port, Kolkata Port completes 150 Glorious Years

KOLKATA: The Glorious history of Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) goes back to 150 years. The Port started operations with river moorings and four screw piles jetties for general cargo in the year 1970.

KoPT is the only riverine Major Port in India situated 232 Kms upstream from the sandheads. It boasts of the longest navigational channel amongst Major Ports of India and one of the longest in the world. On this occasion, Mr. Vinit Kumar, IRSEE, Chairman – KoPT said, “Kolkata Port has thrived over the years becoming the 2nd highest growing port in the Country. Looking towards a vibrant future, several measures have commenced in KDS & HDC, strengthening the Rail and Road systems for better evacuation. Firmly believe that Port has long way to go.”

Cargo volumes at Indian Ports highest in 14 months : Goldman Sachs

MUMBAI: Cargo handled by Indian ports in December rose the most in the last 14 months on the back of a jump in volumes of oil and gas related products and iron ore.Ports across the Country handled 609.6 lakh tonnes of cargo in December, 6 percent higher compared to last year, according to a Goldman Sachs report.

Liquid cargo—which contributes nearly 37 percent to total cargo volumes—grew 10 percent year-on-year, the highest in the last eight months. Iron ore, which saw a growth in its volumes for eight consecutive months, grew 44 percent, partly aided by a favourable base. Container and coal volumes—which together constitute 41 percent of total volumes—continued to fall, albeit at a slower rate. Container volumes declined 1.6 percent, while coal volumes fell 7.6 percent compared to last year. Fall in container volumes, according to Goldman Sachs, could impact Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd., Container Corporation of India Ltd. and Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd., said the report.

Maharashtra plans 18 clusters for export of chemical-free fruits, vegetables

PUNE: The Maharashtra Government, along with APEDA, plans to set up over 18 clusters in the State for export of chemical-residue-free vegetables and fruits. The clusters will also ensure that the agriculture products meet the phytosanitary norms of developed countries.

Phytosanitary measures are for the control of plant diseases and pathogens. Without residue-free and phytosanitary certifications, Customs clearance at foreign ports is not possible.

Export Adviser to the Maharashtra Government Govind Hande recently said that Maharashtra accounted for 65 per cent of the country’s fruit and 55 per cent of vegetable exports. Last year 2.5 lakh tonnes of grapes, worth about

Rs. 2,300 crore, about 50,000 tonnes of mangoes (Rs. 406 crore) and 67,000 tonnes of pomegranates (Rs. 688 crore) were exported. Export of 15 lakh tonnes of onions earned Rs. 3,500 crore.

The Maharashtra Government is keen to raise its exports, he said.

The State Government along with APEDA — Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority — will assess the agri export capability of every district, and help create infrastructure such as warehouses, distribution centres, packhouses and quality testing facilities, Hande said. In the last 10 years, several infrastructure facilities have been created including radiation and hot water treatment for mangoes and onions. The State also has 15 labs, which can certify the absence of farm chemical residues. Of the total packhouse in the Country, 80 per cent are in Maharashtra. The idea is to further increase the number of such infrastructure facilities, Hande said.

The District Collector would head the clusters. Preliminary work has already started in Sangli, Solapur and Nashik, he added.

India can explore export opportunities in 19 agro-based commodities: FAO December 30 , 2019

NEW DELHI: India can explore export opportunities in 19 agro-based commodities that together have a global market of USD 97.6 billion, recent data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations shows. India’s share in the global market for these products currently stands at a miniscule 1.5%, with India exporting USD 1.49 billion worth of these commodities in 2017.

Except for coir and coir products, India does not have a significant market share in most of these identified 19 commodities.

Despite being a major producer, India’s share in exports of bananas, oranges, chicken meat and milk products such as cheese and buttermilk is miniscule.

Thus, there is a huge unrealized export market for India’s farm commodities, which can be explored by food processing companies and mega food parks that are envisaged under the Central Government scheme. Government of India is offering financial support to around 40 mega food parks across various parts of the Country.

Maharashtra, which is the second-largest exporter of agro commodities stands to benefit from this unrealized export opportunity. The State will have three of the 40 mega food parks that are being implemented across the Country. These three parks are being set up in Paithan, Satara, and Wardha for processing fruits, vegetables, foodgrains, and milk.

Of these 19 farm commodities, Maharashtra has been a dominant exporter of only grapes, mangoes, onions, and dehydrated vegetables. The State can upgrade its export capability in dairy products, poultry products and cereals such as sorghum and maize.

However, Maharashtra will have to improve its global competitiveness on par with leading farm exporters such as New Zealand, USA, Brazil, Belgium, Australia, Argentina, and others to capture this huge world market for food commodities.

India can enhance its agro exports through a coordinated action plan with the participation of Government, trade support institutions, including quality standards authorities, export promotion councils, and entrepreneurs.

Oman and India signs agreement on enhancing cooperation in field of Maritime Transport and Ports

MUSCAT: Oman and India signed an agreement on enhancing cooperation in the field of maritime transport and ports.

The agreement was signed by Omani Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport Said bin Hamdoon Al-Harthy and Indian Ambassador to Oman Munu Mahawar, the Omani Ministry of Transport said in a statement.

The deal aims to stimulate growth in maritime navigation between the two countries, and promote the relations between their companies and institutions on shipping and maritime transport, the statement said.

It will facilitate the establishment of joint projects in the areas of maritime transport, ship building, repair and recycling, and marine information technology applications including simulation development, port facilities and related marine activities, it said.

The deal comes within the framework of enhancing Oman-India cooperation to strengthen the existing economic ties and create the foundation for increasing maritime cooperation to achieve common development that serves the benefits of the two countries, 

LEAP India expects demand for pallets to touch 4 mn next year December 30 , 2019

MUMBAI: LEAP India, a leading supply chain management solutions firm for the auto, e-commerce and FMCG sectors, expects demand for pallets on lease to touch 4 million next year from 3 million deployed currently.

After the introduction of GST, the demand for pallets from large warehouses has increased to drive vertical storage and efficient transportation, said the company.

Increasing demand from both domestic and international warehousing companies is driving demand for efficient and international practices of storing and moving goods. Internationally, goods are stored and moved with the help of forklifts, which drives the demand for storing and transporting goods on pallets.

India has moved well on this front in the last five years, and there is lot more to do in the next decade, said LEAP India.

Palletising products can increase operational efficiency, on-time delivery, resulting in greater visibility of FMCG, beverage products on the shelves of retail outlets. A truck-load of goods requires 14 workers and 3 hours to load and unload. However, palletising can not only reduce requirement of manpower, but also reduce the loading time to just 30 minutes from 3 hours, which saves on additional costs, it said.

Sunu Mathew, Managing Director, LEAP India said achieving the milestone to deploy three million pallets and becoming the market leader by serving every leading brand was quite encouraging.

“We see enough opportunity in both pallets and FLCs. We are all geared up to tap this huge opportunity as we are well positioned to expand our pallets base,” he said.

Urgent need to have a Logistic Policy to regulate arbitrary and unfair charges : FISME

NEW DELHI: Industry experts and the exporter-importer community of India have been calling for a watchdog or a regulatory body to regulate proper policy and bring transparency in the country’s logistic sector.

The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India contribute to 40 percent of exports. They also have a huge share in import basket. More export and import means more usage of logistics including shipping lines.

However, the absence of a Regulatory Body for the Logistics sector has given freehand to the logistic companies to levy high charges for exports and imports. The MSME sector is the main victim of this gap.

In a meeting with the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently to given Budget related suggestions, the apex body for MSME associations Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) said there is an urgent need for a regulator to bring order and transparency.

“We would like to raise the issue of arbitrary and unfair charges levied by Shipping lines on hapless Indian exporters and importers especially MSMEs,” FISME said in its pre-budget memorandum submitted to the Finance Minister.

FISME President Animesh Saxena highlighted that many a times these charges exceed the freight component itself. Many MSME exporters have often come up with grievance Shipping lines never disclose the details of the charges before hand and later the importers are forced to pay whatever charge they levy once the consignment has landed.

All the more, there is no platform where importers can file a complaint against these excesses.

Meanwhile, the Government is in the process of drafting national logistics policy within a month.

The draft policy seeks to create a single point of reference for all logistics and trade facilitation matters in the country which will also function as a knowledge and information sharing platform.

The Indian logistics sector is currently valued at USD160 Bn, the sector is expected to become worth USD 215 Bn in the next two years.