India Shipping Summit provides a forum

The fourth Shipping summit held at the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai on September 29 to October 01, 2008 took forward the debate on India’s future as a global maritime player, factoring in a range of issues that highlighted the role of the government; finance for Indian owners; opportunities presented by India’s gas and oil exploration programme; the growing manning crisis and the continuing challenges of delivering world class maritime infrastructure.
A.P.V.N. Sarma, Shipping Secretary, Government of India the chief guest at the conference stated that out of the 111 projects planned under the National Maritime Development Programme involving an investment of Rs 44,535 crore over a 10-year period two have so far been implemented and 39 more are nearing completion. “Expressions of interest have been invited for setting up two international size shipyards one on each coast,” he said. “The government has also relaxed the cabotage law to encourage global cruise operators to do the coastal legs without hassle. To harness the natural resources of inland waterways the government is concentrating on making the existing three National Waterways fully functional and is in the process of introducing a bill to declare three new National Waterways.”
It is the most opportune time to give a fillip to the Indian fleet, according to S. Hajara, Chairman and Managing Director of Shipping Corporation of India. “Though 100 per cent FDI is allowed in shipping, not a single dollar in investment has come in,” he pointed out. “As the Indian economy is growing and will continue to grow in the years to come the prospects for the shipping industry are really bright.”
Adding to India’s maritime success story, Rajeev Gupta, Joint Secretary, Shipping, Government of India, declared that the Indian fleet would soon be crossing the 10 million mark. Nevertheless, he was in agreement that the industry did face several hurdles including taxes, manpower shortage, etc. which came in the way of acquiring a level playing field. “To encourage more youngsters into seafaring we will make things easier so that they do not have to undergo the present tedious examination system. We are encouraging coastal shipping and with several thermal power plants coming up all over the country the need for coal imports is mind boggling. So I call upon the industry to take advantage of the growing opportunities.”
Being a small player, India’s share of ship building amounted to a mere 1% of the international ship building activity, as pointed out by Ray Stewart, CEO of Pipavav Shipyard. He underscored the fact that it was lower cost of labour that made the Japanese No. 1 in ship building in the 60s. But then Korea and China took over in the 70s. “And now it is clearly India’s turn having the upper hand to become a ship building power,” he ascertained. “By 2017 ship building will generate employment for 2.5 million people in India.”
To make it a reality he confirmed that it would be necessary for the government to reinstate the 30 per cent subsidy on ship building that was introduced in 2001, but was discontinued on August 14, 2007. “What is most peculiar is that there are no measures to encourage Indian ship owners to place orders with Indian ship yards. It actually turns out to be much more expensive for them to get their ships built here,” Mr. Stewart deplored.
"We need out-of-the-box thinking to develop maritime infrastructure in the country, otherwise the demand-supply gap will remain," pointed out Arvind Bhatnagar, CEO of Gateway Terminals India. Formulation of new PPP models, availability of loans at special rates, tax benefits for infrastructure developers and reduced Customs duty on equipment imports were some of the initiatives/incentives that could be considered, he observed.
“The need of the hour for ensuring that ship building activity moves on to a higher trajectory is by ensuring an integrated maritime plan with government support for encouraging Indian ship owners to place orders with Indian shipyards and to encourage indigenous marine ancillary equipment industry,” said Mr. Stewart.
"We need to educate the people in Delhi about what shipbuilding is,” stated Vijay Kumar, Director of Bharati Shipyard. “It was only in 2002 that the private sector was given any kind of support by the government. There are huge investment opportunities out there that will give massive returns in a very few years. But official support is crucial to get these off the ground. The government can earn back what it gives, besides gaining colossal profits within 20 years. This industry has lots to offer. It’s time everyone saw this."
In summation, Rajneesh Gupta, Director – Ship building, Department of Shipping, Union Ministry of Shipping speaking on behalf of the government stated, “We need to interact constantly between both the private and public sectors. I don’t see anyone interacting with the government at any level not even with us or the ministry of finance. If you want to bring in changes you’ve got to interact, make presentations and disseminate information at different levels of the ministries. Policy makers need to be upgraded. Why wait for Seatrade Summits to take place to speak your minds?”