A couple of months back, a field visit to Kamarajar Port – India’s first corporate port formed under the Companies Act - was an eye opener. We saw for ourselves how a port can be run efficiently with just 102 people. So, when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced, while delivering the Union Budget to Parliament, that all major ports will be encouraged to corporatise, we decided to double-check its benefits. This time the destination was APM Terminals Mumbai, also known as Gateway Terminals India. And, what we found only reconfirmed our belief that corporatisation is the best way forward for India’s port sector and, of course, foreign trade!

Sisir Pradhan | The Dollar Business

JNPT has three container terminals – JNPT Container Terminal (JNPCT), owned by JNPT, Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT), owned by DP World and Gateway Terminals India (GTI), a 74:26 joint venture between APM Terminals and Container Corporation of India (CONCOR). These three terminals, put together, had handled a traffic of 4.26 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in FY2013, which was more than the total container throughput by all the other 11 major ports during the year (3.44 million TEUs). Further, during the said period, while JNPCT had handled 1.21 million TEUs and NSCIT handled 1.04 million TEUs, GTI had topped the chart with a throughput of 2.01 million TEUs. So, what is it that has made GTI the numero uno? Answering the question, JNPT Deputy Chairman Neeraj Bansal told The Dollar Business, “APM’s global experience in terminal operation and CONCOR’s expertise in handling domestic logistics have benefited GTI immensely. The facilities at GTI are the best in the region.”[sociallocker id="9714"]

For better

Unlike our visits to other ports, which were all done via road, in case of GTI, we had the option to choose between the road and the sea. We were told that while, during peak hours, it will take anything between 2-3 hours to cover the distance of about 60 km from Gateway of India to the terminal by road, the sea route of about 10-12 km can be covered in just 20 minutes in speed boat. So, without thinking twice, we decided to take the sea route. GTI officials informed us that a boat would be waiting for us at the jetty at Gateway of India around 8 am. When we reached the jetty, we found an Australia-made catamaran, with some GTI officials aboard, waiting to transport us to the terminal. What came as a very pleasant surprise was the fact that APM Terminals Mumbai Chief Operating Officer, Ravi Gaitonde also joined us on the ride. We later realised that this was the usual practice at the terminal – company operated boats transport employees from the city to the terminal in shifts.

Since container terminals handle only clean cargo, as expected, the terminal was quite clean. What surprised us, though, was the non-existence of any sort of congestion at its gates. During our several interactions with various importers and exporters who use JNPT, we had been told that being the busiest port, it is choked by infrastructure bottlenecks. But we didn’t find any such bottlenecks, at least not at GTI. Bad roads, over speeding cargo carriers and violations of safety mandates, which are a common sight at most ports in the country, are, pleasantly, missing at GTI.

 

All in place

GTI is the youngest of the three terminals at JNPT. It came into being, when in a bid to meet the rising demand of container traffic, JNPT signed a license agreement with Gateway Terminals India Private Limited. The agreement is on BOT (build-operate-transfer) basis for 30 years from the date of award of the licence. As per the agreement, JNPT receives royalty from GTI, which is a function of the traffic handled at the terminal. While GTI looks after the operational part of the terminal, JNPT provides facilities related to common infrastructure like pilotage, dredging and berthing etc. It started operations in 2006.

 

 

The biggest advantage of GTI is that it is operated by APM Terminals, which makes it a part of the APM network that has a presence in 63 ports and 154 inland service locations across the globe.

Another advantage of the terminal is that most major ship liners call JNPT as it is the busiest container port in the country. Moreover, Elephanta Island, which faces the port on one side, acts as a break water for the terminal and protects it from tidal disturbances and storms. GTI is connected with the rest of the country via NH-4B, NH-4 and NH-17. Similarly, it is connected to the national railway network at Panvel junction and has access to 33 ICDs throughout India.

 

Amongst the three terminals at JNPT, GTI has the longest jetty with a quay length of 712 metres and operates with a channel depth of 13.1 metres. To meet growing demand of faster loading and unloading of containers on bigger vessels, it has 10 post-Panamax reach rail-mounted quay cranes, 40 rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGCs), dedicated to the container storage yard, and three rail-mounted gantry cranes for handling of containers at the railway sidings. Its RTGCs are equipped with anti-collision systems and GPS aided auto-steering, which help in detecting obstacles and avoiding accidents. To suffice exporters’ need for plugging points for refrigerated containers, GTI has 840 plugging points.

 

Dream employer

All the trade unions that constantly claim that private companies are not employee-friendly, probably under instruction from their political bosses, should pay a visit to GTI. Its swanky administrative office has all the amenities that can be found at the headquarters of an MNC. So much thought and effort has gone into the laying of every brick in the office that even each stair mentions the amount of calories you will burn by climbing it! One such employee-friendly measure is a training room with a simulator that can reproduce various adverse weather and working conditions to help wharf crane operators hone their skills. Similarly, to ensure safety of vessels and port side operations, GTI is now in the final stages of completing its container weighing project that will help in identifying weights in misdeclared containers.

 

Setting examples

If the government is serious in its endeavour to improve the efficiency of major ports, it should take a note or two from GTI. Explaining that GTI’s stunning efficiency, which has made it the top container terminal in the country, is a 24*7*365 process, its Chief Commercial Officer Amit Malik told The Dollar Business, “We constantly innovate and look for ways to improve our performance.” Similarly, pointing out some of the steps taken by GTI to help faster movement of cargo, Gaitonde said, “Along with the CISF, we have deputed our own personnel to check container seals. This helps save time. The terminal has digitalised the gate survey process, which has virtually made the entire process paperless. Moreover, container survey process for all export containers arriving at the terminal’s gates has been digitalised through cameras.”

 

Another such move towards higher efficiency was taken a couple of months back, when GTI introduced ‘e-Form 13’ on its website. Earlier these forms needed to be collected physically by shipping lines and distributed amongst co-loaders. All such innovative and well thought out moves have helped GTI increase its daily throughput and become the top container terminal in the country as well as earn the respect and loyalty of several leading ship liners, one of them being Taiwanese ship liner Wan Hai Lines. Speaking to The Dollar Business, Dicky Chiang, Chief Representative, Wan Hai Lines said, “APM Terminal Mumbai has always provided first class professional assistance to Wan Hai Lines. We sincerely appreciate the initiatives taken by GTI, like e-Form 13 and revised seal checking etc. in order to enhance the supply chain efficiency.” Similarly, Hanjin Shipping India Managing Director, Hoon Park is all praise for the terminal. “The terminal is truly a world class facility. The productivity offered by GTI has been optimum, with vessels sailing within committed time ensuring schedule,” he told The Dollar Business.

It’s not that only ship liners are full of praise for GTI. Highlighting some of the milestones achieved by the terminal, JNPT’s Bansal said, “GTI is the first container terminal in the country to handle 2 million TEUs in a year. The terminal accounts for about 45% of the total container traffic at JNPT.”

 

Partner perfect

Faster evacuation of cargo and operational efficiency has not only helped the terminal become the largest container throughput terminal in the country, but also attract EXIM cargo from outside its hinterland. It is an achievement for GTI that many exporters from even states like Telangana prefer to use it, instead of nearer container terminals at Visakhapatnam or Krishnapatnam. V. Kalyanarama, Executive Director, Container Corporation of India (South Central Region), summed up why JNPT constantly ranks at the No.1 position among container ports in the country. “Most of India’s export cargo are bound for the western world and MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Hence, exporters prefer to use west coast ports like JNPT over east coast ports. JNPT is located near a metropolis like Mumbai and some of the most industrial regions in the country. Hence, a major part of import cargo also lands at this port. Moreover, due to heavy throughput of containerised cargo, top ship liners call at the port more frequently. As most of the mainline vessels visit the port, and in most cases, leave the port fully loaded, there are lesser chances of transhipment. It also helps exporters and importers save time on each consignment. Hence, it is not only exporters and importers from western and northern parts of India, but also traders from central and southern region, who prefer it,” he told The Dollar Business. And making full use of this is GTI. In fact the tremendous performance of GTI is the reason why despite opposition from regional trade unions, JNPT has gone ahead with the development of its fourth terminal under the PPP model.

 

Bettering the best

As the sun started setting on the Arabian Sea, it was time for us to leave GTI and head back to Mumbai. On our way back, we overheard talks about the Maharashtra government mulling an ambitious project to build a sea bridge connecting Mumbai with Nhava Sheva. Similarly, a dedicated freight corridor is also in the pipeline to connect Delhi with Mumbai. If and when these projects materialise, traffic at GTI will go through the roof, particularly since containerisation in India is still way below global averages. And having spent a day at India’s top container terminal, one is sure that it is only eagerly looking forward to it.