INDIA's busiest container port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) handled 58,376 TEU of imports via the direct port delivery (DPD) scheme in July, out of total import volume of 143,699 TEU, representing a 41
INDIA's busiest container port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) handled 58,376 TEU of imports via the direct port delivery (DPD) scheme in July, out of total import volume of 143,699 TEU, representing a 41.6 per cent DPD share, a target that the government aimed to achieve last year. Port statistics collected by JOC.com show that APM Terminals-operated Gateway Terminals India accounted for half of the July DPD volume, transacting 27,540 TEU out of 68,165 TEU in imports.
July DPD figures at other terminals were as follows: Jawaharlal Nehru Container Terminal at 15,447 TEU out of 37,216 TEU; DP World-operated Nhava Sheva (India) Gateway Terminal at 11,702 TEU out of 28,605 TEU; and DP World's Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal at 3,687 TEU out of 9,713 TEU.
DPD - in which importers can clear their cargo direct from the wharf within 48 hours of landing at the port - is an integral part of the Indian government's efforts to reduce cargo dwell times to ease port congestion and, in turn, lower logistics costs for domestic shippers.
That ease-of-doing-business reform has substantially decreased the bargaining power of supply chain intermediaries for customs clearance and other related functions, which third-party logistics providers (3PLs) operating container freight stations in the harbour had long dominated.
Also, JNPT in July set a new high in rail handling, with that volume hitting 62,976 TEU in July, out of its combined export-import traffic of 429,145 TEU compared with 55,400 TEU and 402,041 TEU in June respectively.
JNPT ended fiscal 2017-2018 with a record 4.83 million TEU. Volume increased by four per cent between April and July to 1.67 million TEU compared to the same period a year earlier.
