Indian port expansion conference
Indian port infrastructure is being expanded to cope with new demand
An event is being planned to tackle some of the more specific issues thrown up by Indian port expansion plans. The region’s ports are facing high growth, but Lieve Dries, COO of Noppen, points out efficiency is lacking.
Ms Dries explains, “Indian ports nowadays realize business is growing, volume and trade figures are rising impressively, but with the current infrastructure and lacking hinterland connectivity they just cannot handle cargo through-put in an efficient way.” Mr Dries adds, “I would say the main challenges are all-round capacity planning with main focus on improved efficiency.”
Indian ports, both state owned and public-private partnerships, are busily increasing capacity on the back of the rising demand: estimated container traffic is expected to reach 21million teu by 2014. However, beyond the ports capability, there are also questions arising from the need to manage such a massive step up in growth.
The India Port Expansion and Capacity Upgrading Conference planned for October in Mumbai, hopes to tackle some of these issues with a mixture of government representatives, port authorities, industry experts and market leaders discussing options with solution providers on best practices and technology innovations that could be adopted.
Some of the topics to be addressed cover India’s role as a global player, containerisation of the market and future outlook of vessel and cargo types, aligning port growth with regulatory requirements and future trends, initiatives to tackle cargo bottlenecks, (port to road or rail connectivity), handling equipment needs and pitfalls from an Indian perspective, seismic design and India’s requirements for climatic and weather-proof solutions, plus, of course, the future of VTMS in India.
Further, a growing consensus in the port industry has lead to strengthened focus on clean solutions that help ports in reducing their footprint, including Green dredging, construction and expansion.
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