| Come February 15, the country's major container port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), will have a common rail operator, which is a first of its kind joint container evacuation initiative.
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| From now onwards, a container train run by Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) will operate to a particular inland container depot (ICD) in India loaded with cargo of the three terminals of JNPT.
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| Till now, container trains were carrying dedicated cargoes for a particular terminal at JNPT, which handles over 58 per cent of India's container traffic.
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| Besides its own terminal, JNPT has two container terminals operated by Dubai Ports World and Danish shipping major Maersk led consortium and JNPT.
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| Indian Railways and CONCOR have also joined JNPT for this common rail operator concept. JNPT Chief Manager (Operations) R T Revankar explains: At present, dedicated container trains used to run for all three terminals from 17 different ICD locations across India.
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| "The scene is going to change with inter terminal rail handling operations (ITRHO) effective from February 15. For instance, a container train destined to Delhi ICD will be filled by both of these three terminals. One terminal will take lead to fill the rakes," says Revankar.
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| The benefit would be in turnaround times. The turnaround time of a container train, crucial for evacuating cargo, will be reduced to 5 hours instead of 8 hours.
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| Endorses a shipping line representative, "At present, the turnaround time taken by a container train at JNPT is anywhere between 8 to 12 hours due to the delay in filling up the train. With this initiative, it is expected to go down to 4 hours, which is a huge difference for export and import trade."
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| Revankar says," It is not just turnaround time. With speedy and efficient evacuation of ICD-bound cargo, the port can increase its productivity. Moreover, it will also help in decongesting the port."
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| The new rail initiative would have a cost. "Subsequent to implementation of ITRHO, the individual terminals shall levy Rs 400 per TEU -- twenty foot equivalent units - exclusive of taxes for the entire ICD volume passing through the respective terminal in addition to the existing scale of rates. This levy of Rs 400 per TEU will be subject to review after a period of six months in line with the variance in the percentage of mixed containers," a JNPT statement said.
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| JNPT has handled 3.08 million TEUs-- twenty foot equivalent units-- for calender year 2006 against 2.58 TEUs. ICD-bound containers pile up and create congestion at JNPT every year.
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| Reacting to the levy charged by terminals for ITRHO, shipping lines representatives pointed out that it added to the cost of transaction but enabled enabled speedy evacuation of cargo.
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"We do not know how do they arrived at a Rs 400 per TEU figure," the representatives said.
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| COMMON RAIL OPERATOR
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| WHAT: JN Port will take lead in filling up cargo in a common container train from three of its terminals towards a hinterland destination.
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| WHO: JNPT, Dubai Ports, Maersk, Indian Railways, CONCOR
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| BENEFIT: Increased productivity, decreased congestion and improved turnaround
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| COST: Rs 400 per TEU for entire hinterland cargo passing through terminals. |
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