India’s volumes are increasing sharply. In the first quarter of this year container volumes at South Asian ports surged by 25.6%, faster than the 15% growth recorded world-wide in container traffic but the current road and rail networks are already showing the strain on links between ports and interior industrial and commercial centres.

Minister of Shipping GK Vasan and other government officials met with APMT’s CEO, Kim Fejfer to talk about existing and new terminal and port development projects – plus hinterland connections - in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

APMT, which has facilities located in Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mumbai and Port Pipavav in Gujarat, believes it can assist with development. “Based on the size of India’s economy and population – as well as the country’s 2009 container volumes of only 7 million – we can help make a difference in India’s future”, said Mr Fejfer. Certainly, the company’s investment in the rail link between Pipavav and New Delhi has yielded results, especially as the diesel line allows for double height boxes, making the most of the line and bringing costs per container down.

Hans Madsen of APMT said that despite the company recently pulling out of the Ennore tender due to hefty development requirements from the government, “It is obvious that India will need more port capacity inside the next decade and we will continue to scout around for promising projects.”

However, time brings up another issue: the length of lead in needed to get through the layers of Indian regulation which tend to build up as older laws are hard to repeal. Mr Madsen continued by saying, “The country is a democratic one, not a state-directed economy, therefore things take a while to get through the system.” He added, “I would expect more developments to take place on India’s east coast although - at present - it is a smaller market.”