Mumbai port revival bid faces hurdles
The management of the 139-year-old Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) is faced with an uphill task as it plans to revive and restore the port to a semblance of its former glory, Live Mint reports.
Rajeev Gupta, who took over as chairman of the port a little over four months back, is expecting a 10-15% rise in traffic in the current fiscal even though MbPT registered a mere 3% improvement in its productivity parameters in the last financial year.
Besides, Mumbai port—once considered the premier port of the country—faces many other hurdles. For one, it has one-third of total employees of all 12 major ports of India but handles only 10% of total traffic of these ports.
In contrast, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, or JNPT—a port that was commissioned on 26 May 1989 to decongest Mumbai Port near Nhava Sheva island—handles 120% more cargo with just 1,600 employees, and accounts for 60% of the container traffic handled by major ports.
MbPT has 16,500 employees and 35,000 pensioners on its rolls as of 31 March; the average age of employees is 52 years. It is also the largest real estate owner in Mumbai, owning 750 hectares but various approvals and controversies have stalled it from monetizing this gold mine.
Gupta, 53, admits his port is an “old world port” and cannot change its history in a few years. “I spent half my time studying hospital files of employees rather than on port-related business,” said Gupta, who was joint secretary in the shipping ministry before joining MbPT.
“Unless the port does something on a war footing, it will be shut. The octroi department in Mumbai, other stakeholders and the state government are eyeing the real estate,” said Mark Fernandes, who heads the shipping and aviation committee of the Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC). He is also the promoter of Sylvester and Co, Sylvester Forwarders Pvt Ltd that uses Mumbai port, and was on the board of MbPT for six years starting 1998 in phases.
Gupta acknowledged that “monetizing real estate is a complex issue. But you can’t get rid of Mumbai Port. We own even Girgaun Chowpatti and even part of Nariman Point”.
Fernandes said the port, which handled 65,000 containers in 1997 now handles barely 20,000. “The offshore container terminal was slated to open in December 2010. Still there is no jetty. The neighbouring JN port is also saturated and the cargo is overflowing to Gujarat,” he rued.
Another port user and representative of a large shipping line, said, on condition of anonymity, that there is neither a sign of small revival nor paradigm shift. “Citing congestion in the city, the state government is limiting expansion of Mumbai port. There is no clear cut plan for container handling. Mumbai port will get some traditional cargo, but with the rise of new ports, it will lose that as well,” he added.
Gupta finds solace in numbers. The ship day output, according to him, increased in 2011-12 to 7,709 tonnes from 7,487 tonnes in 2010-11. The port is getting larger parcel size ships with average parcel size of 19,773 tonnes against 18,221—a rise of 8.52% with number of ships using port services increasing to 5,761 against 5,622, according to a port statement. The target for next year is 61 million tonnes (mt) against the last fiscal’s 56.19 mt, said Gupta.
As part of the revival plans, MbPT has managed to woo high-profile customers such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp. of India Ltd, Rashtriya Chemical Fertilizers Ltd, etc., said Gupta. The port is also planning to build LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals, SPM (single point mooring) systems, shipbuilding and repair yards. While LNG terminals are to facilitate gas, SPM is a mooring point and interconnect for tankers loading or offloading gas or liquid products.
Gupta added his port was fourth in an all-India ranking by the shipping ministry, clocking 56.19 mt in 2011-12, a rise of 3% over the previous year’s traffic of 54.59 mt.
“The city of Mumbai developed solely because of MbPT. But, at the moment, the port is stagnating in all aspects except POL (petroleum, oil and lubricants) cargo,” admitted Gupta. He is talking to firms such as Reliance Industries Ltd and Essar Group to build on this strength.
“Gupta convinced ONGC to divert crude cargo through MbPT as the firm was paying more port dues at JNPT. He offered priority berthing to ONGC vessels at Jawahar Dweep facility,” said a port executive, requesting anonymity. As a result, in the first 15 days of April 2012, ONGC crude handled is 290,000 tonnes, a sharp increase against the monthly average of 225,000 tonnes in 2011-12.
He said the port has signed an agreement with Tata Power Ltd to create a dedicated anchorage to handle its raw material. The port has also convinced Rashtriya Chemical to divert the cargo through Mumbai instead of using Kandla port in Gujarat, according to the official.
Another employee at the port, requesting anonymity, said Gupta is tracking port traffic on a day-to-today basis. “No chairman has visited as many places as Gupta visited in the last five years or held discussions with potential clients in the last three months. He is a tough task master, and even if 10% of his vision materializes, it will be a sea-change for the port,” said the executive.
Gupta said the port is offering coastal transportation or barging facility to avoid land movement for cargoes, including steel, cement and coal. “Substantial progress has been made in construction of offshore container terminal and it is expected that the new terminal will be commissioned by end of December 2012 or early 2013. The redevelopment of harbour wall berths in Indira Dock will soon become a reality. Similarly, dredging for construction of second chemical berth is also likely to be awarded by May 2012,” he said.
And even as the employees overhang and real estate issues are likely to bog him down, Gupta is planning to execute various self-funded and private-public partnerships projects.
Rajeev Gupta, who took over as chairman of the port a little over four months back, is expecting a 10-15% rise in traffic in the current fiscal even though MbPT registered a mere 3% improvement in its productivity parameters in the last financial year.
Besides, Mumbai port—once considered the premier port of the country—faces many other hurdles. For one, it has one-third of total employees of all 12 major ports of India but handles only 10% of total traffic of these ports.
In contrast, the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, or JNPT—a port that was commissioned on 26 May 1989 to decongest Mumbai Port near Nhava Sheva island—handles 120% more cargo with just 1,600 employees, and accounts for 60% of the container traffic handled by major ports.
MbPT has 16,500 employees and 35,000 pensioners on its rolls as of 31 March; the average age of employees is 52 years. It is also the largest real estate owner in Mumbai, owning 750 hectares but various approvals and controversies have stalled it from monetizing this gold mine.
Gupta, 53, admits his port is an “old world port” and cannot change its history in a few years. “I spent half my time studying hospital files of employees rather than on port-related business,” said Gupta, who was joint secretary in the shipping ministry before joining MbPT.
“Unless the port does something on a war footing, it will be shut. The octroi department in Mumbai, other stakeholders and the state government are eyeing the real estate,” said Mark Fernandes, who heads the shipping and aviation committee of the Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC). He is also the promoter of Sylvester and Co, Sylvester Forwarders Pvt Ltd that uses Mumbai port, and was on the board of MbPT for six years starting 1998 in phases.
Gupta acknowledged that “monetizing real estate is a complex issue. But you can’t get rid of Mumbai Port. We own even Girgaun Chowpatti and even part of Nariman Point”.
Fernandes said the port, which handled 65,000 containers in 1997 now handles barely 20,000. “The offshore container terminal was slated to open in December 2010. Still there is no jetty. The neighbouring JN port is also saturated and the cargo is overflowing to Gujarat,” he rued.
Another port user and representative of a large shipping line, said, on condition of anonymity, that there is neither a sign of small revival nor paradigm shift. “Citing congestion in the city, the state government is limiting expansion of Mumbai port. There is no clear cut plan for container handling. Mumbai port will get some traditional cargo, but with the rise of new ports, it will lose that as well,” he added.
Gupta finds solace in numbers. The ship day output, according to him, increased in 2011-12 to 7,709 tonnes from 7,487 tonnes in 2010-11. The port is getting larger parcel size ships with average parcel size of 19,773 tonnes against 18,221—a rise of 8.52% with number of ships using port services increasing to 5,761 against 5,622, according to a port statement. The target for next year is 61 million tonnes (mt) against the last fiscal’s 56.19 mt, said Gupta.
As part of the revival plans, MbPT has managed to woo high-profile customers such as Oil and Natural Gas Corp. of India Ltd, Rashtriya Chemical Fertilizers Ltd, etc., said Gupta. The port is also planning to build LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals, SPM (single point mooring) systems, shipbuilding and repair yards. While LNG terminals are to facilitate gas, SPM is a mooring point and interconnect for tankers loading or offloading gas or liquid products.
Gupta added his port was fourth in an all-India ranking by the shipping ministry, clocking 56.19 mt in 2011-12, a rise of 3% over the previous year’s traffic of 54.59 mt.
“The city of Mumbai developed solely because of MbPT. But, at the moment, the port is stagnating in all aspects except POL (petroleum, oil and lubricants) cargo,” admitted Gupta. He is talking to firms such as Reliance Industries Ltd and Essar Group to build on this strength.
“Gupta convinced ONGC to divert crude cargo through MbPT as the firm was paying more port dues at JNPT. He offered priority berthing to ONGC vessels at Jawahar Dweep facility,” said a port executive, requesting anonymity. As a result, in the first 15 days of April 2012, ONGC crude handled is 290,000 tonnes, a sharp increase against the monthly average of 225,000 tonnes in 2011-12.
He said the port has signed an agreement with Tata Power Ltd to create a dedicated anchorage to handle its raw material. The port has also convinced Rashtriya Chemical to divert the cargo through Mumbai instead of using Kandla port in Gujarat, according to the official.
Another employee at the port, requesting anonymity, said Gupta is tracking port traffic on a day-to-today basis. “No chairman has visited as many places as Gupta visited in the last five years or held discussions with potential clients in the last three months. He is a tough task master, and even if 10% of his vision materializes, it will be a sea-change for the port,” said the executive.
Gupta said the port is offering coastal transportation or barging facility to avoid land movement for cargoes, including steel, cement and coal. “Substantial progress has been made in construction of offshore container terminal and it is expected that the new terminal will be commissioned by end of December 2012 or early 2013. The redevelopment of harbour wall berths in Indira Dock will soon become a reality. Similarly, dredging for construction of second chemical berth is also likely to be awarded by May 2012,” he said.
And even as the employees overhang and real estate issues are likely to bog him down, Gupta is planning to execute various self-funded and private-public partnerships projects.