The Indian government has announced a series of steps including the reduction of certain port charges and the purchase of five additional second-hand container vessels by the state-run Shipping Corporation of India Limited (SCI) to ease sector-related problems being faced by exporters and importers, a government official said on Monday, September 30.
The measures were announced after a meeting of all the concerned stakeholders of the international trade segment, including senior officials of ministries like commerce and industry, shipping, ports, finance, civil aviation and railways, the top exporters body FIEO (Federation of Indian Export Organisations), customs officials, freight forwarders, transport operators and shipping companies.
Exporters have flagged shipping sector issues which are hurting the country’s exports, which contracted by 9.3 percent in August. The issues in the discussions included container shortages, the surge in ocean freight rates and shipping costs, shipping delays at Indian ports, and turnaround times at ports.
The SCI also announced that they are chartering container ships to significantly increase container capacities, with capacity to be boosted by 9,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) immediately. Indian Railways and Container Corporation announced that empty containers can now be stored at yards at zero cost for 90 days.
Furthermore, the shipping ministry said that port capacities have already been enhanced by 2.3 million TEUs.