Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is investing Rs 3,000 crore for improving road connectivity and also looking to finalise Rs 2,000 crore-dredging project, a top government official said today.
Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar said the port is "investing Rs 3,000 crore for a road connectivity project. They are just in the process of finalising Rs 2,000 crore (for) dredging project and they are investing about Rs 1,000 crore within the port for improving both the rail and road network."
He also said that operationalisation of the fourth terminal will double the capacity of JNPT "that they intend to start phase I in early 2018".
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Further, the official informed, the government is working to reduce cost of logistics for traders.
"We are looking at GST. We are also looking at roads having electronic toll collection so that the trucks need not stop everywhere," Kumar added.
However, he said, the centre would have to negotiate with state governments to ensure that reduction of other local barriers for smooth movement of cargoes.
He was speaking at a function on 'Stimulating India's EXIM Growth - reducing the indirect costs of trade'.
Speaking at the event, Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) A K Bhalla said that the country's exports are showing growth in the last three months.
He said under the WTO's trade facilitation agreement in goods, India is bound to bring lot of reforms.
Under the foreign trade policy (FTP), the commerce ministry extends lot of incentives to facilitate exports under certain schemes, Bhalla said, adding "some of these schmoes are not going to be WTO compliant in the years to come where we crossed a certain threshold of GDP".
There is a need to reduce cost of logistics and its impact on trade, he said.
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Meanwhile a CII-Maersk survey stated that India can boost exports by up to USD 5.5 billion by reducing costs of trade by 10 per cent.
"...Reducing the costs of trade across four high-growth trade sectors by prioritizing digitization, inland infrastructure development, an efficient regulatory environment and developmental training, can boost exports by 5-8 per cent," it said.
The study - stimulating India's EXIM Growth - also said that indirect/hidden costs of trade in textiles, pharma, electronics and auto components accrued from unreliable transport services and regulatory/bureaucratic delays are as high as 38-47 per cent of the total logistics cost.
"A 10 per cent reduction can boost India's competitiveness and contribute additional revenues of up to USD 5.5 billion annually," it added.
Further, it said that majority of the respondents ranked regulatory documentation, terminal handling, inland transportation for imports and exports as a serious challenge to cut cost of trade.
To deal with these issues, it suggested development of digital tools for reducing time and red tape around documentation; faster clearance of goods; and training to upgrade technical skills in compliance handling functions.
It also suggested for investment in road and rail infrastructure to improve inland transportation from ports to ICDs, transparency in costs across the value chain, regulation of middlemen across value chain and unified RFID tags for pan-India toll payment.
