Sunday, August 5, 2012

Reinvigorating the ‘port of good hope’

When Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone of the kandla port, the vision was truly a grandiose one. while one cannot deny the achievements of this port, Akram Hoque of B&E also warns of critical shortcomings

Gandhidham, a small city in Gujarat, bears tesimony to what ports can contribute. Around 350 km from Ahmedabad and 1101 km from New Delhi, it would have been just like any one of those hundreds of cities in India that you possibly wouldn’t hear about in a span of a lifetime. The reason why it isn’t, is quite evident from a near unnoticeable signboard I come across as I step into the city from the railway station. It says, “Kandla Port Trust welcomes you.” In Gandhidham, this is not merely a corporate branding initiative. It actually is an apt reminder of how much the Kandla port means to the city. Alhough the Kandla port was commissioned in the year 1930 by Maharao Khengarji III (the ruler of the then princely state of Kutch), it was the great visionary Sardar Patel who realized the need to explore the possibility of establishing a deep-sea port to cater to the vast hinterland. And Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation stone for the new port of Kandla in 1952 with a mission to make it a major logistics hub, which would render professional, cost effective and value added services to its customers. Some of its defined objectives were to provide efficient and economical port services, create facilities of international standards and facilitate quicker turnaround of vessels, besides pursuing a slew of social development and environment friendly initiatives.

As per official data, the cargo handling capacity went up by 11.29% in 2008-09 and reached 72.22 million tonnes per annum against 64.89 million tonnes in 2007-08; the highest-ever cargo throughput by any Indian port. The management aims to scale it up further to 100 mtpa by 2012. It also handled the highest amount of crude oil at 35 mt in 2008-09, as compared to 20.27 mt in 2007-08.

The Kandla port also has some major strategic advantages. Firstly, a vast hinterland of 1 million sq. km. can be easily accessed from Kandla. Secondly, it has the highest Liquid Storage capacity in the country. Thirdly, tropical and dry climate conditions with scanty rainfall enable relatively uninterrupted operation around the year. And most importantly, it is the nearest to Middle East and Europe. Omprakash Dadlani, PRO of Kandla Port Trust, tells me, “All these strategic advantages have made us one of the best and highly demanded ports in India. We have recently been honoured with the ‘Best major port of the year’ award for 2008-09 by the Ministry of Commerce.”

But is Kandla indeed the port of the new millenium as is claimed? Undoubtedly, the services at Kandla Port are very economical as compared to most others. But when I consider efficiency, it’s a different story. When I chat around, I find that the Kandla port is still perceived largely as an economical port and not necessarily an efficient one. And the authorities at Kandla have only themselves to blame. I run across Vijender Singh, a marble trader in Rajasthan who regularly utilises the services of both the Mundra and Kandla ports for his marble exports. Vijender tells me, “I think Mudra port is more efficient and fast; I don’t have to wait much. Kandla port takes more time.”

One of the key objectives was to create international standards to facilitate quicker turnaround of vessels. I ask a Filipino mariner who works with a Holland-based shipping company about how he rates the Kandla port vis-a-vis the best in class. His reply is balanced, “It is OK with respect to international standards, but it’s very risky to park big ships at Kandla Port. We have to be very careful while entering and exiting the port because the ship may face obstacles on the way or hit the ground. We can’t see where the obstacles are and what the way is. It is too risky sometimes.” The fact is corroborated by a former merchant navy officer whom I meet. He confirms that though Kandla is cheaper, Mundra’s services are better. In his experience, the Mundra people go to great lengths to ensure safety (for instance, they use two to three tugs for large ships, he says) and faster turnaround times; whereas the facilities at Kandla are old (they often use one tug only).

In addition, Kandla port is 13.5 metres deep (they plan to deepen it to 14 metres), which is not enough for larger ships. Critically, it is around 30 km from the main sea, whereas Mundra is at the juncture of the open sea. This is an advantage in a sense, as ships are safe from sudden cyclones. But this also restricts large ships from entering till one creates wider and deeper routes. The turnaround time, I realise, is discomfiting.


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