Security of India's Ports, Coast and Maritime Trade: Challenges in the 21st Century

By Dr. Mohit Nayal

India's rise as a global power in the 21st century will be backed with a strong blue economy. The high volumetric trade activities through its coastal region, mainly due to its geostrategic location and efficient links with the vast potential market in the hinterland and other landlocked states, provides it unmatched leverage. Among such promising enterprising, attracting global investments and trade, the non-conventional security threats within the Indian Ocean region and India's ports and coast cannot be ignored. Therefore, to address these challenges, the law at the seas formulated by various global organisations and other national and international regulatory mechanisms become essential for all those directly or indirectly involved in India's maritime security. Over the years, many state coastal security agencies have evolved with specific potential and restrictions, which creates a certain conditionality of the existing non-conventional security challenges and maritime conflicts with its neighbours. The successful use of security-related technology to outpace such non-conventional threats creates a demand for further bolstering such technologies for India's advantage. Besides, these prevailing threats to the ports and coastal region, the environmental security challenges also directly impact humans and cannot be undermined.
The book covers all these facets in detail, identifying the specific fault lines and makes recommendations to address the non-conventional security challenges of India's ports, coast and maritime trade. The book will be of interest to policymakers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, and all those individuals and institutes interested in India's Ports, Coastal and Maritime Security.

• Language: English
• Publisher: VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd
• Release date: Jun 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9789390917112

Dr. Mohit Nayal

Dr Mohit Nayal is a strategic expert. His previous book on policy affairs was the 'Invisible Wall of China'. He has also authored two other books on diverse subjects. Although the niche area of his expertise remains China, he also frequently contributes to National and International journals and seminars on issues relevant to South Asia, Southeast Asia, North East India and Artificial Intelligence. His last two years' professional assignment has facilitated significant monitoring of the Indian Ocean Region and its security imperatives, culminating into the publication of the present book. He has been a Research Fellow at the National Maritime Foundation and is presently holding a legal appointment in the Ministry of Defence.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

INDIA’S MARITIME ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH SECURITY ASPECTS

Introduction

The various events in history impact our present times, and mostly they are coherently interfaced. When the world is reticulate, in physical and digital connections, it will be inappropriate to ignore the efforts and the rationale of the past. The seafarers especially need to be accorded due credit for reaching out beyond their respective sovereigns’ geographical limitations for ensuring greater prosperity of the state. The sporadic maritime economy got evolved under this construct. Before covering the maritime economy or the blue ocean economy of India, it becomes imperative, to begin with, the historical overview of marine activity impact, over the years. This introductory chapter intends to address the relevance of maritime economic activities and subsequently build up a case for examining the security aspects of ports and coastal regions from the Indian perspective. This book’s main objective is a detailed evaluation of India’s Ports and Coastal Security for its Blue economy.

Historical Overview of the Maritime Activities in the Indian Context

The major international trade activities entail carriage of bulk goods using the ships as a mode of transportation. Various civilisations, which prospered centuries ago, had progressed to connect with the outer world for trade activities through the sea routes. Archaeological studies confirm that during ancient times, the Mesopotamia and Indus valley civilisations successfully developed such mechanisms. The dry dock excavated at Lothal in Gujarat was a brick basin of 718 feet by 121 feet¹. In the west, the Phoenician merchants in the Mediterranean region were also able to undertake large-scale use of ships to conciliate the trade activities². Soon, few other nations within the region observed and valued the remarkable achievements of outpacing the disadvantages of time and space attached to the existing land-based transportation model. Thus, the Greek and Roman merchants voluntarily imbibed the use of difficult ships journeys for days to undertake their commercial and economic activities. Similar patterns got registered in the eastern hemisphere, in countries like India and China, which expanded the trade engagements across the globe. During the famous Chinese visitor Fa Hien’s visit to India, between 400 and 410 EC, ship carrying him from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) to Sri Vijaya had nearly 200 merchants from India³. From the fifth century to the fifteenth century, various kingdoms in India tried to become a maritime power, few expanding their reach to Sumatra, Malaya and even the western half of Java⁴. However, ironically, the nations on the eastern hemisphere did not consistently develop their maritime potential and instead stayed more interlocked facing inland territorial challenges.

On the contrary, the western contemporaries led to a new era of maritime powers, especially after the Columbian Exchange Period, which continues uninterrupted even today during the modern times, with needful modifications⁵. Quite similar to such expansion was the Arab interest in the maritime domain, ironically, for a limited period. However, it remained quite impactful throughout the regions. Interestingly, the Arab method of shipbuilding as seafarers got closely aligned to the indigenous traditions practised in the Indian maritime domain⁶. In 1498, the Portuguese expeditionary Vasco da Gama reached India with the reported help of Arab navigator Ahmed Ibn Majid al-Najdi⁷. From Vasco da Gama’s second visit, India’s commercial potential due to its abundant natural resources got realised by the west. As a fallout of Portuguese maritime initiative, the next significant contributors of Maritime trade in the Sixteenth and the Seventeenth-century included the trading companies of the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British⁸. These traders understood the importance of sustainability of economic activities at sea with equal potential to safeguard their interests, far away from their sovereign territory. As far as the Indian rulers were concerned, they also attempted to create a maritime force; however, defensive in form rather than an expeditionary force for trade-related activities. For instance, Emperor Akbar had a naval fleet, but mainly to safeguard the state’s interest against the Bay of Bengal’s pirates⁹. During Shivaji’s rule, the Maratha navy had become quite a dreaded force with nearly 200 ships¹⁰. However, the status did not last with the change of leadership. The Maratha navy has a history of countering the foreign troops, which tried forceful encroachment in India. Next, the British soon established themselves as India’s dominating power, with jurisdiction over most of its territory. Much of the trading activities initiated by them through India’s coastal regions were for their economic advancement.

By the nineteenth century, as Britain and other western powers’ trade became significant volumetrically, it engaged multiple partners the shipping companies. Thus, the individual merchant’s replacement was the standard carrier services. The other iconic change was in terms of technology, wherein the use of steam propulsion and iron for shipbuilding came into practice, revolutionising the entire shipping industry¹¹. Over the years, the steam propulsion system got further upgraded to the diesel propulsion system¹².

The Relevance of Security for Economic Activities

By the twentieth century, commercial shipping activities’ success led to exploring the alternatives and shorter routes, thereby, in 1869 CE opening the Suez Canal and in 1914 CE opening of the Panama Canal¹³. As far as commercial shipping activities are concerned, they construed the container ships, the cargo ships, tankers and the passenger carriers. These technological advancements and cumulative collaborations of multiple nations temporarily gave an impression that the issue of sea conflicts was benign. However, the frequent occurrences of security breach made the International community realise that the existing regulations governing the rule of law at sea were inadequate. There were several rampant threats, both conventional and non-conventional, at the high seas and even nearer to the littoral states’ coastal regions. These threats have emerged or either evolved under extreme dynamic circumstances.

Economic and Security Conjunction in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)

The IOR, with the third-largest ocean in the world, mostly considered a peaceful region, for centuries thwarted any significant conflict. Instead, it was a well-integrated interregional arena of cultural and economic interaction and exchange (Bose 2006, p.15)¹⁴. Here the Arab and Asian traders piled their wars, and subsequently became a pre-second World War British Lake (Panikkar 1945; Panikkar 1944, p. 1; Alpers 2014 pp 97-99)¹⁵.

However, under prevailing circumstances, the IOR has become an essential link between the east and the west. Due to the Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC) for trade activities, the International community looks at IOR with due importance, both in economics and security-related aspects. Today, India and China, the emerging regional powers, have increasing participation within the IOR both in the spheres of trade and security, covered in detail in Garofano and Dew’s (eds) (2013) "Deep Current and Rising Tides: The Indian Ocean and International Security"¹⁶. Mohan’s (2012), Samudra Manthan: Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific, envisages that IOR will witness a larger scale of sea-related activities by both India and China¹⁷. Today, these countries aspire to increase their maritime trade volume and ensure that they become more durable economic powers in the years ahead.

Therefore, both the aspects related to marine business, import and export become crucial for these nations. There is also no denying that the economic activities stand to be a coward and will not flourish at a place where there are security threats. Therefore, in the present scenario, no nation can think of economic prosperity without giving due importance to security. Japan is a classic example of this phenomenon. Recently, Japan has realised the importance of self-reliance, in terms of its regional security requirements. It thus cannot continue to rely on American assistance entirely. As situations emerge, Japanese military capability seems to be increasing in the region. The approach is the outcome of the rising concerns, of non-conventional security threats, which woefully impacts the Japanese maritime dependent economy.

Then there are countries like America, Australia and Russia, which also ascertain reasonable influence in IOR, to safeguard their national interests¹⁸. The assertion is both in terms of security and economic activities. Instead, the security issue has gained momentum within the region in the past few decades. Thus, under prevailing situations, general security effectiveness at the high sea demands, all the major players to individually or through various collaborations enhance the maritime domain’s capacity, both in terms of offensive and defensive mechanisms for sea assertion and sea denial. Over the years, to extirpate such threats, many blue water navies engage in frequent domination or familiarisation of the region through joint exercises or by complex manoeuvres under the argument of ensuring freedom of navigation in the open sea. Today, transparency of information regarding suspect vessels at sea with allies and close monitoring of adversaries’ activities has become a well-practised norm. The clustering of various naval ships in IOR leads to unpredictable, and volatile circumstances within the region. The region becomes more prone to unintentional trigger, which may lead to the acceleration in the scale of conventional conflicts. This act would prove to be entirely counterproductive to the economic objectives, which are the primary focus of many of these powers flexing their military might in the region.

In addition to the activities of the major players, the other endangering pattern emerging in the IOR is the surge amongst the smaller littoral states to acquire the conventional naval warfare capability, even beyond their proportionate threat perception, amounting to more burdensome commitment towards military procurement-an alarming rise within the figures of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Many of such states included in the IOR form part of Africa, Asia and Australia. Perhaps, this enhanced security spending pattern reflects the countries’ desire to ensure that any possible territorial claim in the maritime domain, especially having a significant prelude, is not denied to the state. Primarily, to overcome weak military capacity to safeguard its interest, has become the guiding force behind such increasing acquisitions. Still, few of these nations openly reflect such apprehensions, and somewhat justify the military capacity building to address the non-conventional threat challenges. However, in reality, this type of phenomenal military asset-building indicated through a higher percentage of GDP spending of the state is also considered part of compulsory power projection to nations in the immediate neighbourhood and seen as a means to increase proximity with global powers. Many such states have broadened their association much beyond the geographical dimension of their territorial waters. For instance, Bangladesh defence spending in 2019-2020 amount to 8.3 per cent of the total national budget¹⁹.

Regardless of the size of the nation’s and its geographical location, countries and their Navy’s understand the epochal cohesiveness. It is essential to maintain a geopolitical and geoeconomic advantage. Therefore, the government of state must collaborate and support multilateral systems. This book primarily focuses on non-conventional threats scenario. As a term of reference, mechanisms and complexities of the conventional engagement of navies in the region will be kept outside the purview of regional security challenges in the book.

The criticality of Non-Conventional Security Threats

Non-conventional security threats are a critical concern for all nations. These threats are discussed continuously and through various measures is under address, as per present security mechanisms. At the International level, the United Nations (UN) especially has a collective security mandate to address such concerns. Article 51 and 53 of the UN security conventions enumerate guidelines for regional peace and security through the empowerment of law enforcement actions²⁰.

Additionally, due to its geographical uniqueness of frequent occurrences of natural calamities, the IOR region further increases the spectrum of the non-conventional operations, like the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). Almost all the 50 nations within the IOR frequently face some form of natural disaster threat. The natural disasters in the region include cyclones, droughts, earthquakes and floods. Recently, several nations’ collaboration, from within or outside the region, to reach out to the areas, facing natural calamities, made real-time response possible. Besides the state’s conventional resources, various civil agencies have come up in many countries to extend support during natural calamities. Some of these civilian agencies provide specialised training to its personnel, which is of great value to address the evolving crisis. This peacetime awareness of the region’s complexities has also created genuine environmental concerns, closely linked with the magnitude of future disasters within the area.

In addition to the fury of nature, ironically, extensive interregional connectivity and more considerable economic enhancement have also led to unprecedented human indulgence in perpetuating natural resources exploitation. This complexity has instead led to conflicts, imbalances and instability within the region. The growing menace of all such activities over the years has instead remained poorly accounted for. The non-state actors’ indulgence towards increasing conflicts and instability is challenging to account through the existing state mechanisms. Mainly as the state resolve issue with the state, the control over actions of the non-actors is a challenge. Therefore, the states today have more significant rationale to come together collectively to address the obstacles percolating through the seas and oceans. Over the years, this understanding has naturally become more explicit. On the ground, various multilateral collaborations are undertaking sufficient measures to address the threats of non-conventional security. Some of the challenges faced at the seas are illustrated in greater detail as the topic progresses. For instance, there is a reasonable concern in the region regarding the piracy activities, which have adversely impacted the entire IOR. Presently, the Navy of the state, beyond its geographical boundaries of primary care, collaborates with other Navies. The objective is to secure the sea lanes of communication from the pirates and terrorists to avoid hindrance to trade activities. This coordination has led to a better understanding amongst Navies, creating a multinational force to meet all eventualities at the high seas. Today, there is much more openness amongst the states to share information regarding the non-state actors’ activities and locate and dismantle their safe-haven outside the affected country’s territorial jurisdiction.

India’s western side of the IOR and the eastern side, have nations, which are constantly embroiled in internal conflicts mainly due to post-colonial political instability. Therefore, many citizens of such states envisage a hopeless future for themselves and their coming generations. Besides, the conflict of interest amongst various groups within these states has infused violence and created a near-permanent social, economic and political disorder forcing them to leave their lands in the hope of a stable life, an essential surge even at the cost of personal safety. Many people belonging to such countries expecting a modicum of a better life, illegally migrate in neighbouring states, which want to restrict their entry and do not have much to offer, in terms of opportunity and prosperity. The mass illegal immigration of people from some nations in the IOR has raised the international community’s concerns. It has been one of the significant issues of serious discussions amongst international organisations, like the UN. Apart from this, there is a large-scale movement of drugs within the region, promoting illegal monetary transactions, becoming a primary source for funding other unlawful activities. The complexity of the drug movement within the IOR stands covered in greater detail in the subsequent chapter.

Then, there is a constant threat of the terror strikes from fundamentalist organisations, which work on enmity instilled by ideological instigation and the State, as an identity, to such extremists tends to be immaterial. Thus, a particular group of motivated terrorists may target any country in the region on such indoctrination without any open and direct conflict of interests. The complexities of identifying individuals and holding them accountable for reckless pogrom will be intricate. Thus, to meet the challenge, the state security mechanism needs constant up-gradation. Much of these aspects are in the book, "Clash of Civilisation". The author, a political scientist, Samuel P Huntington, states that future conflicts would be due to the people’s cultural and religious identity, rather than the state they represent²¹.

In the case of India, the non-conventional security threat is a significant cause of concern. With the coastal region spread over 7,500 kilometres, India, for its growing maritime economy needs greater security of its ports and coastal area²². Therefore, wherever there is an opportunity to enhance economic potential, there is a related responsibility to ensure coastal safety. The maritime trade aspirations have surged to a different level in India, in the past few years. Therefore, before covering marine trade’s security importance, let us first cover India’s present scope of maritime trade opportunities.

Indian Perspective Regarding Importance of Maritime Trade

Today, India has made substantive progress in terms of a market economy, and its present growth rate indicates a promising future to emerge as a global power. Much of India’s trade activities are through the sea-based movement of goods. Therefore, the future development of its ports and coastal security will positively impact the nation’s economic enhancement. Recently, the volume of trade both in terms of import and export has drastically increased in India. Besides, the 12 major ports, which are directly under the central government’s control, the other 200 minor ports are under the state governments’ functional jurisdiction²³. These non-major ports are also witnessing a volumetric increase in the cargo loads and size of the trading vessels. There has been exponential growth in the shipping, port and cargo handling ventures in the last two decades. Such economic opportunities have encouraged many private firms to invest in these sectors. Today, India has privately owned ports which are operating very successfully, and the scope of further expansion seems to be quite promising, in the years to come. Doubtlessly, the development of the ports has a positive impact on the entire coastal region’s development. Thus, several ancillary industries like the thermal plants, cement factories, fertilisers, automobiles, edible oil and textiles are functioning closer to the ports. This coastal industrialisation model has helped these businesses find easy access to the import products for their requirements and have also given them better platforms to reach out to the international markets to sell their finished products. The governments mega-project to support this port-led development is called the Sagarmala, covered subsequently in more significant details²⁴.

Introduction to Sagarmala Initiative

At the start of the present century, India understood the importance of infrastructure enhancement at the ports and coastal regions to boost its economic prosperity. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which came in power in 2014, finally got this plan working. Initially, the idea of Sagarmala project came up in 2003 under the NDA government of then Prime Minister of India, Sri Atal Bihari Vajpayee²⁵. However, the implementation of the project did not happen. On 25 March 2015, the Sagarmala project was launched with the approval of the union cabinet²⁶. The government envisaged an immediate requirement to link the ports and the coastal regions with the hinterland by well-developed roads, railways, airports and inland waterways. Besides, the ports and coastal areas required Coastal Economic Zones (CEZ). The CEZ with state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities will encourage the private partnership for trade and economic activities. CEZ will help to reach out to regions, long isolated due to poor connectivity and infrastructure facilities. Allocating priority to these concerns and ensuring the perspective plan for expanding economic activities near the coastal region, the GoI under the Sagarmala project initiated 14 such CEZ²⁷. These CEZ cover the entire length and breadth of the coastal zone. The government’s critical areas of focus, sector-wise, along with port locations, are as per Figure 1 below.

Figure 1: Focus of Sagarmala Project²⁸

Under the Sagarmala project, the government commits to developing an extensive scale of support infrastructure for trade and economic activities along the coast, facilitated with smooth connectivity with the hinterland. The four critical areas of focus will be-the port modernisation, the port connectivity, the port-led industrial development and the coastal community development.

Figure 2: Sagarmala Apex Committee²⁹

To effectively execute the ambitious project, the GoI constituted-the Sagarmala Apex Committee. It comprises, a steering and coordination committee at the national level, and state Sagarmala committee at the state level, as depicted in Figure 2³⁰. Further, in July 2016, at the Central government level, Sagarmala Development Company Limited (SDCL) was formed³¹. The primary aim was to provide equity support to the state-level Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)³². The SPVs plan to act as the nodal agencies for the host state governments and its agencies to better engage with the contractors, suppliers, operators, equity investors, off-take purchasers and other groups, forming the basic structure for all development projects. This model aims to integrate the governance, available natural resources, infrastructure, finances, technology and energy, for improving the port-led development in the coastal regions. The success of Sagarmala depends on providing low logistic cost, for the import/export, and the domestic trade within the country. A total of 572 projects were identified by the central government, which will help develop better infrastructure in support of the coastal region’s economic activities³³.

Investments Planning and Commitment

In Sagarmala project, there are planned investments of an estimated Rs 12,00,000 crores, over the next few years, under various programs³⁴. About, Rs 8,00,000 crores are under the proposal for the industrial clusters³⁵. Simultaneously, the remaining Rs 4,00,000 crores will be spent to link ports through road and railway connectivity³⁶. By May 2019, the government intended to execute projects worth Rs 50,000 crores; however, the progress was much below the expected figure³⁷. For instance, as per the plan in 2018-2019, 39 projects worth Rs 1,569 crores were to be completed³⁸. If the original targets were complete, as per the expectation of the policymakers, then, this would have created nearly 40 lakh direct jobs³⁹. Besides, it would also create opportunities for many more indirect jobs in various sectors, along the coastal region. As per the 2019-2020, annual report of the Ministry of Shipping the latest updates on the Sagarmala projects are as shown in Figure 3 below⁴⁰.

Figure 3: Ministry of Shipping, 2019-2020 on Sagarmala Projects.

Notwithstanding this temporary slowdown, by 2025, the government has an ambitious plan to nearly double the cargo handling capacity, from 1.5 billion metric tons to almost 3 billion metric tons⁴¹. In terms of financial achievements, once the Sagarmala project is fully operational, it will help save Rs 40,000 crores per year, on the logistic cost⁴². By 2025, government economic agencies’ circumspect assessment indicates that the Sagarmala project will boost exports to USD 110 billion⁴³.

Further, the project shall boost India’s existing capacity of 12 major ports from 871.5 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) to 1,414.5 MTPA⁴⁴. The cargo handling details for 2016-17, for India’s major and non-major ports, as reflected through the block statistics in Figure 4, indicate a substantial improvement in its overall operational capacity. Through the Sagarmala project, the government intends to develop the infrastructure potential of the country’s 12 major ports and the non-major ports, which are under the jurisdiction of the central and the state governments. Thus, a coherent approach between the centre and the states is required for successful policy implementation within the coastal region.

Connectivity

Over the last few years, the central government achieved some remarkable progress for improving the connectivity to the ports. The main objective is to reduce the present average time of moving goods from the hinterland to the ports, from 32 days by at least five days, adding to the shipments’ international competitiveness⁴⁵. In this regard, multi-model transport facilities are being developed all across India. For instance, the Haldia port connects with the hinterland through the inland waterways, which will substantially reduce the cost of transhipment of the goods⁴⁶.

Figure 4: Ministry of Shipping, 2016-2017, Major Port Efficiency

Inland Waterways

Historically, inland waterways have been in use from centuries, in India. The British also used the inland waterways system for transportation purposes. However, in the 19th century, with the focus shifting towards the road and the railway connectivity, the inland waterways lost priority. A total of 20,274 kilometres of navigational river systems of 138 rivers are available in India, passing through 24 states and two Union Territories⁴⁷. The inland waterways are under the category of open river navigation, and canal waterway. Despite such capacity, the inland waterways barely contribute towards the movement of cargos. In India, the waterways only make 0.5 per cent contribution to the modal share⁴⁸. Under Sagarmala, about 111 national waterways projects, linking the ports with India’s other regions are under progress, and four such projects will soon become operational⁴⁹. For instance, the National Waterway 5 covers 623 kilometres between West Bengal and Orissa⁵⁰. This communication link will assist in moving the coal requirement of the thermal plants in the hinterland. Besides, there are many waterways projects in the plan for cargo load carriage. Few of these are the Cumberjua, Sunderbans, Barak, Mandovi, Zuari, Ghaghra, Gandak, and Kosi waterway⁵¹.

Indian waterways for active cargo movement have unique challenges. A massive infrastructure facility will be mandatory to clear the periodic silt, maintenance of the fairways, speed control, management of the cargo terminals, and many related issues. Here, the private partnership’s involvement will become essential and relevant for the development of such facilities. Then, there are concerns regarding the entire project’s environmental impact, which also requires adequate evaluation. For instance, there is a higher probability of the seawater ingress with a long-lasting nuance on aquatic life. Besides, there will be the clearance of several plants and trees along with the river bed to facilitate the development activities, impacting the soil erosion. The barrage construction to support the waterway system will also prove to be a challenge, especially in areas with a dense population. All such aspects require consideration, in the overall plan of waterways development.

Railway Connectivity

Due progress has been achieved in laying the railway’s connectivity across the entire country in recent years. A careful perusal of activities indicates a substantial increase in the new line laying capacity from 2014 with 189 rail lines annually made operational⁵². This massive increase in the capacity also facilitates cargo containers’ movement from the ports to other parts of the country. The objective is to increase the percentage of good transportation by railways-from the quaint 18 per cent to 25 per cent⁵³. For instance, the heavy haul railway corridor from Mohannadi coal fields to Paradip and Dhamra ports is a mega-project⁵⁴. This double line infrastructure will add to the capacity, which will become four times more than that of the standard train facility, for freight carriage. Besides, the 1504 kilometres Jawaharlal Nehru Port railway link to north India, through the double lane electric track, is dedicated to the freight movement⁵⁵. The government has given a considerable impetus for developing the dedicated freight corridors, connecting the major ports with the hinterland. Like, the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) is now an equity partner with the Indian Port Rail Corporation Limited (IPRCL), through the ministry of shipping for all the 12 major ports in the country⁵⁶.

Besides, extensive and efficient networks of government-run rail links generating myriad options, various private partners also optimally run rail lines to connect to the national railway infrastructure. For instance, the Krishnapatnam Railway Company Limited has been facilitated with Rs 125 crores from the centre, for timely execution of the project⁵⁷. About 27 railway projects, got sanctioned for building this coastal connectivity⁵⁸. Besides, 11 freight friendly corridors identification is made to connect ports with significant production and demand centres, around the country. For instance, the Pipavav Railway Corporation Limited (PRCL), runs the container train on the railway corridor connecting Ports of Pipavav, Mundra, Chennai, Ennore, Vizag and, Kochi, with the hinterland⁵⁹.

Road Connectivity

The government has also taken the initiative to create the highways, which will link India’s southern regions with the northern, eastern and western areas. These would soon be made operational. The effort is known as Bharatmala programme⁶⁰. In all, there are ten expressway corridors and 80 connectivity projects, covering about 10,000 kilometres planned under the initiative⁶¹. The National Highways will interconnect 24 logistic parks and 66 inter-corridors of 8,000 kilometres⁶². To further facilitate the reforms, customs department advocates the rapid movement of export/ import shipments, with the latest uniform procedures in place.

For instance, now the registration process is simple; with encouragements given to self-sealing methods from the factories and installing scanners for containers, are few such initiatives⁶³. The government’s road connectivity program intends to create the capacity to meet nearly 70-80 per cent of the nation’s freight move requirements⁶⁴. From 2010, there has been a 72.8 per cent increase in the road construction capacity in India⁶⁵. In 2019, 3,979 kilometres of the national/the express highways and 156.7 thousand kilometres of state highways were made functional⁶⁶. Besides, the development of the road network infrastructure, the project provides 100 million person-days’ work to the individuals, in this sector⁶⁷. This massive scale of road network development and other connectivity, in 2019 was amounting to nearly Rs 1,58,839 crore⁶⁸. India will witness further expansion of its road connectivity in the coming years, especially linking its coastal region to the hinterland.

Load handling Capacity at the Ports

As per the plan, the ports’ development activities are slowly channelising towards creating greenfield ports. As far as, the load handling capacity of Indian ports is concerned, they are being fabricated to become more competitive. In 2019, the major ports’ traffic reached 699.05 million tons, and the non-major ports also witnessed substantial growth in their load capacity⁶⁹. In terms of revenue generation, the major ports’ contribution in 2018, was a net profit of Rupees 3,413 crores⁷⁰. In terms of the traffic load handling in the major ports, it has increased five times, from 2014 onwards⁷¹.

Today, almost all the major ports in India are functioning round the clock. There has been an enhancement in their load handling capacity with many berths and support structures, made through various joint partnerships. The expenditure incurred for up-grading the major ports is as per the details, covered in Figure 5 below. Besides, there are bunkering facilities for fuel storage created at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Paradip and Colachel⁷². Lack of such facility in India in the past led several ships transacting through the Indian Ocean, to visit other nations. However, for further enhancement of this sector, India needs to resolve the issues related to the present taxation, quality concerns, regulatory challenges, and infrastructure capabilities. Only then, for instance, India will get acknowledged as a potential International service provider for bunkering fuel, catering for not only its domestic requirements but also for the global demand. As far as, the market potential is concerned, it is likely that by 2035 the need for bunkering will further increase.

Figure 5: Major Ports Upgradation Expenditure

Besides, the shipping ministry has formulated a new assessment for load-carrying potential. It has laid the latest standardisation for further enhancement of volumetric load handling. This capacity increase has acquiesced without any significant changes in the existing cargo handling facilities, within the port infrastructures. In terms of noticeable improvements, many of these ports can now handle multiple cargos and hold the requisite advanced facilities. Therefore, simultaneous berthing of diverse capacity ships-the containers, oil tankers, and those carrying mineral resources, has become a common sight. A substantial per cent of India’s import and export, through the sea routes, comprises of coal, petroleum, oil & lubricants, iron ore and fertilisers. All improvements in the support infrastructure within the ports will reduce the waiting-in period of the ships. Besides, such facilities’ growth will reduce the unloading time and move-out time from the ports to their next destination. For this, the coal berth facilities, along with the storage, bunkering, and ship repair capabilities, are being gradually upgraded.

Depth availability at the Indian Ports a Restriction

The main restriction that many ports in India face is-the depth available for entry and exit of the ships. A majority of Indian ports are with the depth availability of eight to 15 feet⁷³. A few as exception are deep ports, wherein the depth of up to 18 feet is available. The deep ports continuously require the dredging to avoid silting, which frequently obstructs the entry of the vessels. Today, many of the cargo ships carry the load of 18,000 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) per ship and to maintain the economics to transport of cargo, the size of the vessels is increasing, over time⁷⁴. Presently, most of the Indian ports can handle up to 6,000 TEU per shipload capacity⁷⁵. Overall, by 2025, Indian ports are estimated to have the ability to handle 21.5 million