CONTAINERISATION IN INDIA

Capt. Prakash Joag

What is an Inland Container Depot? Enumerate services provided by an ICD

Name six ICD in India and the year in which they are established

What is CFS and how does it functions differ from ICD

What is the role of CONCOR ? How does it help in the movement of containers?

Why has progress of multimodal transport been slow in India ? Discuss various problems

Give full forms of following abbreviations:

AISC INSA LCL CY CTD CONCOR

CWC PSWC

OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENTATION

Prior to Containerisation Prior to Containerisation MULTIPLE MULTIPLE

HANDLINGHANDLING All cargoes other than bulk commodities were moved package by package and piece by piece with multiple handling, resulting in damage, pilferage and time loss.

Containerisation In IndiaContainerisation In India Indian railways introduced container services for the first

time in 1966 and provided an integrated intermodal door-to-door services with in the country

Containers with a pay load of five tonnes were loaded, sealed and taken over by railways

In 1969, Indian railways also started the Freight Forwarder Scheme (FFS) utilizing the services of road haulers between rail-head and godown

Railway Container Services Freight Forwarding

Popularity + Revenue generation

*But services were only confined to inland transportation only

With the advent of With the advent of ContainerisationContainerisation

Source : Slide Share ; A-brief-presentation-on-containerisation-presentation by Subhash

Ship sails out with the shipment

laden box is loaded to vsl

Shipper books shipment

Company advises port depot to release empty to Shipper

Port depot releases empty to Shipper

Released empty is taken to Shipper’s premises

At Shipper’s premises shipment stuffed into Contr.

At Shipper’s premises shipment stuffed into Contr.

Stuffed laden box returned to port by Shipper

Stuffed laden box upon return to port is stacked in CY

laden box taken to vsl side for loading

Pictorial flowchartPictorial flowchart

Source : Slide Share ; A-brief-presentation-on-containerisation-presentation by Subhash

Beginning & DevelopmentBeginning & DevelopmentConcept of ocean going containers was introduced in India

for the first time in 1968 in a seminar jointly by the INSA, DG SHIPPING, SCI, AISC at Mumbai

In early 1970s SCI acquired the first semi – container ship, other shipping companies like Scindia Steam Navigation Co. Ltd and India Steamship Co. Ltd followed on the steps of SCI

In 1973, the American President Lines began scheduling their cellular feeder container ships to Bombay and brought the necessary handling equipments with them, action was repeated by European lines and thereafter other countries started scheduling their ships to Indian ports

Beginning & Development Beginning & Development Contd..Contd.. India started seriously to adopt containerization in

1978.Major ports like Mumbai , Cochin, Chennai , Haldia/ Calcutta commenced to equip themselves for handling container ships

Shipper and consignees also responded to the opportunities and benefits of containerization

Hence, despite heavy investments and numerous problems in smooth flow of goods , Indian was forced into containerization to stay abreast with the dominant trend in the world economy

India finally entered into containerized transport of goods

ICDs – Roles & FunctionsICDs – Roles & Functions “An Inland Container Depot is an organization offering a total

package of activities to control container and general cargo flows between road , rail and waterways, and vice versa providing maximum services for inland transportation at minimum cost

ICDs / CFS ( container freight stations. ) are thus interfaces between connecting modes of transportation.

Full benefits of containerization can be only obtained if the containers are permitted to reach the locations of original cargo generation points and shipping formalities can take place there itself rather instead of at the exit gateway port, hence ICDs played a crucial role in this process

Activity revolve around Rail sliding, container yard, warehouse, gate complex.

ICDs / CFS – ServicesICDs / CFS – ServicesHandling of containers from road , rail and barges to a

temporary storage area (e.g., Container Yard) Intermediate cargo storage between various transportation

modes, managing the special containers such as DG cargo and Reefers

Receipt and delivery of containers and general cargoCargo consolidation and distribution, if the container cannot

be received or delivered directly at the final consignee’s door. In this case stuffing and de stuffing are done before cargo movement prior to dispatch. Temporary cargo storage.

Transit operations by rail/road to and from serving ports Custom clearance of import / export cargoes.Depot functions as storage for empty containers. Space may

also be required for temporary storage of loaded containers awaiting movement out of ICD

ICDS – Services Contd…ICDS – Services Contd…Maintenance and repair services for containers – container

handling equipments , refrigeration equipments , road chassis etc.

Reworking of containers.Custom’s clearance activities at inland terminals helps to

decrease the dwell time for containers in deep sea ports, this includes ;◦ Checking of LCL cargo prior to stuffing or after de stuffing◦ Checking container seals◦ Assessment and valuation of cargoPhysical distribution services are provided economically at

or close to the ICDs, a variety of cargo related services to finish the goods are normally placed near ICD itself (Garments can be ironed and packed , price tagged on consumer goods, liquid in bulk can be bottled in short etc .)

Inland Container Depots in Inland Container Depots in IndiaIndia On the initiative of Indian Railways below mentioned ICD have been set up first as

pilot projects Depots in India

Location Established

Bangalore Aug, 1981

Guntur Apr, 1983

Anaparti Apr, 1983

Coimbatore Dec, 1983

Delhi (Pragati Maidan) Mar, 1984

Delhi ( Tughlakabad Softcoke Siding) Feb,1985

Amingaon (Guwahati) Nov,1985

Ludhiana Aug,1986

ICDS – Contd…ICDS – Contd…Railways provided the transport link between the ICDs and

the gateway port Locations were selected on the basis of potential of

generating volume of export cargo or where distribution of import cargo can be easily facilitated

Locations of ICDs and CFS is regulated by the Ministry of Commerce and Government of India, Ministry is encouraging liberalization and competitiveness with a view to making transport more attractive and customer friendly maintaining the inter-regional balance

Making ICD & CFS complementary to each other . CFS (cargo aggregating points) should feed the ICDs for carriage to gateway port in sizable quantity and over long distances

CONCORCONCOR Incorporated in Mar, 1988 under Ministry of Railways with

the prime objective of developing modern multimodal transport logistics and infrastructure for supporting international trade

At present it has total 41 EXIM terminals (Rail / Road linked ICDs and Port Side Container Terminals (PSCTs) , with another 13 in pipeline

CONCOR provides linkage between ports and hinterlandsOne of the major thrust in improving the quality of services

in area of EXIM business has come up with introduction of Stae-of-the-art Rolling Stock by CONCOR for running long lead export and import special trains to and from the gateway ports

CONCOR – Value Added CONCOR – Value Added ServicesServicesAs a CFS operator , CONCOR provides a number of value

added services;

◦ Transit warehousing for EXIM cargo

◦ Bonded warehousing, which helps importers to store import cargo and

take partial deliveries as and when required , thereby deferring duty

payment

◦ Provision of air cargo complexes in some terminals

◦ Consolidation of LCL cargoes

◦ Reefer movements

◦ Private Container Train operators --- CTO’s

◦ Rail operated by GOI

CTOsCTOs Jan 2006 private and public were allowed to operate container trains on

IR net work through Competitive bidding licenses given. Till then monopoly of CONCOR put condition that CTOs should not do

business with existing CONCOR customers. 15 licenses issued for running TEU trains. Initial good response. Operators were skeptical about viability due to lack of clarity about

haulage charges, wagon maintenance, transit guarantee, terminal charges etc.

Licenses given from / to JNPT , Mundra , chennai, Ennore, Vizag, Kochi,Kandla, Manglore, Goaetc.

Gateway rail Freight pvt ltd first to run Container train in May 2006. 16 container operators like Gateway, Adani, freight star, Reliance,

Transrail , SICAL, CWC, Concor, Boxtrans etc.

Central Warehousing Central Warehousing CorporationCorporation

A premier Warehousing Agency in India, established during 1957 providing logistics support to the agricultural sector, is one of the biggest public warehouse operators in the country offering logistics services to a diverse group of clients

CWC is operating 464 Warehouses across the country with a storage capacity of 10.8 million tonnes providing warehousing services for a wide range of products ranging from agricultural produce to sophisticated industrial products

Central Warehousing Central Warehousing CorporationCorporationCWC also offers services in the area of clearing & forwarding,

handling & transportation, procurement & distribution, disinfestations services, fumigation services and other ancillary activities

CWC is playing vital role in operating CFSs, there is a proper coordination between CONCOR and CWC for smooth flow of cargo between CFS managed by different agencies

CWC at glance ;◦ Warehouses: 464◦ Storage Capacity: 10.81MT

Containerisation – ISSUES Containerisation – ISSUES &Challenges&Challenges

Slow Progress◦ Despite all measures which are intended to facilitate multimodal

transport, the progress of multimodal transport in India has been slow◦ Container traffic handled by the ICDs constitutes only about 15% of

the total traffic handled by the ports◦ Containerisation in India continues to be essentially a port to port

movement and economic benefits of multimodal transport have been realized only to limited extent by the Indian trade and transport industry

INFRASTRUCTURAL PROBLEMS◦ Reasons for slow progress are ;

Container handling facilities are not adequate to attract mainline containers vessels who continue to rely on feeder services entailing additional cost

Cost of moving the container through Indian port is comparatively higher than the cost ion other South East Asian ports

Both rail and road transport have not been adequately developed as yet for the inland cargo movement

Containerisation – Issues Containerisation – Issues &Challenges&Challenges

Lack of coordination◦ Apart from the listed factors, trade appears to be facing a number of

problems relating to documentation , handling and lack of coordination among the agencies involved such as ports , customs , railway, carriers agents etc

◦ Hence most shippers , consignees and shipping lines are wary of patronising ICDs to the maximum extent

Solutions◦ Many inter – related and complimentary element – procedures and

formalities – at different points in the multimodal transport chain which needs to be coordinated under the overall control of a single authority in order to ensure smooth and efficient operations

◦ CONCON needs to be developed further and empowered.

Suggested ReadingSuggested Reading

Containerisation, Multimodal Transport and Infrastructure Development in India – Dr. K. V Hariharan , 5th Revised Ed., 2007

E class Container vessel E class Container vessel Builders:Daewoo ShipbuildingOperators:MaerskPreceded by:Mærsk E class container shipPlanned:20 ships orderedGeneral characteristicsType:Container shipTonnage:165,000 DWTDisplacement:55,000 tonnes (empty)[1]

Length:400 m (1,312 ft)Beam:59 m (194 ft)Draft:16 m (52 ft)Propulsion:Twin MAN engines, 32 MW eachCapacity:18,340 TEUNotes:Cost $185 million[1]