State-owned ports to turn corporate entities in two-stage reform Live Mint The shipping ministry has drafted a two-stage plan to convert 11 of the 12 ports owned by the Union government into corporate entities from the existing trustee setup in a much-delayed structural reform of these harbours that handle about 57% of the country’s overseas cargo shipped by sea. As a first step, these so-called major ports—Chennai, Cochin, Jawaharlal Nehru port, Kandla, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Mormugao, Paradip, V.O. Chidambaranar and Visakhapatnam—will be brought under a new law called Major Port Authorities Act, 2015. Currently, these 11 ports function as trusts under a law framed more than five decades ago called the Major Port Trusts Act 1963. Kamarajar Port Ltd is the only exception in this regard. Kamarajar, which runs the port at Ennore near Chennai, was formed as a company under the companies law of 1956 when it was opened in 2001. The 12 ports loaded a combined 581.34 million tonnes (mt) of cargo in the year to March, clocking a year-on-year growth of 4.65%.

Walayar-Vallarpadam NH stretch to be deemed freight corridor Business Line In a major boost to Vallarpadam terminal, the Kerala government has proposed trade-friendly measures at Walayar checkpost. A meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary has decided to treat the NH stretch from Walayar to Vallarpadam ICTT as a deemed freight corridor. Containers cleared by the green channel at Walayar, the entry point for containerised cargo to Kerala from Tamil Nadu, would not be subject to further checks. Major grievance. It is pointed out that the move would redress a major grievance of the Exim trade. The decision is expected to attract more cargo from the entire southern region and the port is anticipating a quantum jump in container arrivals, especially from Coimbatore. The focus would be now on smoothening the flow of containers from the region, a senior official of the Kochi Port said. The port authorities had requested at the meeting to declare the NH from Walayar to ICTT as a freight corridor so that there would not be any inspections on the payload issues.

Adani in race to build port at Bhavanapadu The Hindu With growing thrust on ‘Look East’ policy, Adani Ports & SEZ Ltd, part of $9.4 billion conglomerate with operations in coal trading, mining, oil and gas exploration, power generation and logistics, is keen on expanding its presence on the East Coast. After acquiring Dhamra Port in Odisha and deciding to take over Katupalli port near Chennai, Adani Group has emerged as a strong contender for Greenfield port coming up at Bhavanapadu in neighbouring Srikakulam district. Adani, which is on acquisition spree after setting its target to increase cargo handling volume from 127 million tonne in 2013-14 to 200 million tonne by 2020, has submitted the Request for Qualification (RFQ) last month along with Gangavaram Port, Navayuga, Kakinada Port and UTL Technologies. Incidentally, 15 firms bought the bid documents and among them 10 submitted RFQ documents. The technical committee has declared five firms qualified.

Merchandise exports contract for 11th month Live Mint India’s merchandise exports contracted for the eleventh consecutive month in October, as the value of petroleum product shipments declined on lower crude oil prices and external demand remained weak amid a tepid global economic recovery. Exports contracted 17.5% from a year ago to $21.3 billion last month and imports shrank 21.2% to $31.1 billion. The trade deficit of $9.8 billion for the month was the lowest this fiscal, data released by the commerce ministry showed on Monday. In comparison, China’s October exports fell 6.9% from a year ago, down for the fourth month, while imports slipped 18.8%, leaving the country with a record high trade surplus of $61.64 billion. Perturbed by the continuous decline in exports, the finance ministry on Monday raised duty drawback rates for exporters, effective 23 November. The increase in duty drawback rates will help exporters recover higher input tax outgo that they pay during the process of making the final product.

JSW Dharamtar Port gets nod to expand jetty facility in Raigad Business Standard JSW Dharamtar Port has received green clearance for expansion of its jetty facility with an investment of Rs 1,550 crore at Dolvi village in Raigad district of Maharashtra. JSW Dharamtar Port Ltd (JSWDPL) is a special purpose vehicle created under the aegis of JSW Infrastructure Ltd to handle the cargo of the JSW Steel, Dolvi works. JSWDPL has proposed to expand the existing 331.5 metre jetty at village Dolvi in Raigad to 1,750 metre, which will increase the cargo handling from the current 9.69 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 33.95 MTPA. "Based on the recommendations of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), the Environment Ministry has given environment and coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearance to the expansion project in Raigad by JSW Dharamtar Port," a senior official said. The green clearance has been given subject to specific and general conditions, the official added.

Transporting coal via waterways can save Rs 10,000 crore annually: Nitin Gadkari Economic Times Inland waterways can not only boost the movement of goods and passengers across the country, but will also help in saving about Rs 10,000 crore annually in transporting coal, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said today. The minister, who also holds the charge of Road Transport and Highways, added that he is hopeful of Parliament's nod on the bill to convert 111 rivers across India into National Waterways in the current Winter Session. "Inland waterways will help in saving logistics costs and boost movement of goods and passengers across the country. Besides, they will also save around Rs 10,000 crore per year while transporting coal, a crucial resource," Gadkari said at the annual session of industry chamber PHDCCI here. The waterways is a cheaper and environment friendly medium for transporting of goods, he said adding one HP moves 150 kg on road, 500 kg on rail and 4,000 kg on water besides one litre of fuel moves 24 tonne/km on road, 85 tonne/km on rail and 105 tonne/km on water.

Suresh Prabhu unveils statds's first Multi-Modal Logistics Park Daily Pioneer State’s first multi-model logistics park, jointly developed by State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIIDCUL) and Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), was inaugurated by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in Pantnagar on Saturday. On this occasion, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister of State for Railway Manoj Kumar Sinha along with Chief Minister Harish Rawat, State finance minister Indira Hridayesh and Udham Singh Nagar MP Bhagat Singh Koshyari were present. In his address, Prabhu said that the logistics park would prove a milestone for the State, especially for its entrepreneurs, farmers and businessmen. This will decongest traffic and will boost environment protection as well, he said. To ensure that the farmers get better prices of their produce food processing units and cold storage chains must be put in place, the Union minister said.

Groundwork laid for coastal shipping between India and Bangladesh JOC India and Bangladesh are moving closer to allowing introduction of coastal shipping services between the two countries with the goal of boosting bilateral trade. The two governments last week signed a standard operating procedure to “operationalize” a coastal shipping deal reached in June, according to a press statement issued by India’s Ministry of Shipping. “The standard operating procedure will pave the way to promote coastal shipping between India and Bangladesh, and would enhance bilateral trade between the two countries by bringing down the cost of transportation of export-import cargo,” the ministry said. The SOP rules mandate that coastal vessels of both countries are handled no differently from mainline carriers. “India and Bangladesh shall render same treatment to the other country's vessels as it would have done to its national vessels used in international sea transportation.”

Govt gives shipyards more indirect tax sops Live Mint The government on Thursday widened the scope of indirect tax incentives given to the local shipbuilding industry by granting exemption from customs and central excise duties on all raw material and parts used for building vessels. However, the yards are still waiting for the comprehensive shipbuilding policy promised by finance minister Arun Jaitley in his first budget speech on 10 July 2014. Certain specified ships are exempt from basic customs duty and central excise duty. Consequently, for such vessels manufactured in export-oriented units (EOUs) and cleared to domestic tariff area (DTA), the EOUs are not eligible for exemption on raw materials or parts of such vessels. Suitable amendment is being made to provide that EOUs will be eligible for duty exemption on raw materials and parts consumed in manufacture of such vessels which are cleared to DTA, even if such ships are exempt from basic customs duty and central excise or CV duty.

We can’t export our way to growth Business Line Top politicians of India’s ruling coalition boast that China’s economic crisis should be viewed as an opportunity for India to capture a bigger global export share in manufacturing, and grow faster. With India being the only BRIC nation growing by 7 per cent plus, it is not long before India will overtake China economically, they argue. In 2014, China’s GDP at current prices was $10.38 trillion — roughly five times India’s GDP at $2.04 trillion. Even if India grows at CAGR of 10 per cent (best case scenario) and China at 3 per cent (worst case scenario), it won’t be able to overtake China before 2038. Yet, India can take on China, but not by blindly following the now obsolete export-led growth model that made China the world’s factory. Why? Because India is not China, and today’s world is quite different from what it was when China embarked on its export-led growth path. India is a multi-party democratic with all kinds of pulls and pressures that make effective implementation of the Chinese growth model difficult. Logistics Chennai,International Freight Forwarders in Chennai, Custom Clearance Agents in Chennai , Checkout http://www.jupiterseaair.com