Cargo and Logistics

A C L O S E L O O K AT T H E L O G I S T I C S O F T H E F U T U R E Volume III n No 10

C A R G O

DECEMBER 2014 I `60

L O G I S T I C S

GO NORTH-EAST!

Keen to open up the underdeveloped northeastern region of the country for economic prosperity and social cohesion, the government is on a fast-forward mode to improve connectivity with and within the eight states of the North-East

MANAGING EDITOR’s NOTE

Connecting the unconnected

“

We have to take forward ‘Look Act Policy’. We have ‘Look East Policy’ and now we will have ‘Act East Policy’. North-East will be the centre of development.” That was Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

His words reflect this government’s thrust to develop the Eight-Sisters states of the North-East. While development of the region will help boost the economy and usher in social unity with the rest of the country, what is of prime interest is the emphasis on development of infrastructure. As the Prime Minister remarked, “Once infrastructure is developed, rest all will be done by the public.”

That, it has to be a concerted effort cannot be overlooked. Dr A Didar Singh, Secretary General of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) has rightly pointed out in the FICCI-PwC report, Gateway to the ASEAN: India’s north east frontier (see Cover Story) that building infrastructure is no mean task.

The move requires voluminous and may we point out, necessary investments simply because the North-East’s geographical position, international borders with ASEAN nations make the region an ideal region to become a hub of economic activity and trade for the country. Corporate honchos too believe that the North-East could be the economic corridor that will connect India with Bangladesh, Myanmar and other nations of South-East Asia.

When a new train to Meghalaya was flagged off recently after almost 60 years of independence, it symbolised the government’s resolve. While credit for linking the region cannot be taken away from the Railways, it must be acknowledged that the growth in the region has been slower than the rest of the country. A number of projects of the North-East Frontier Railway (NFR) that were initiated saw extension of the railway network, installation of double line tracks, gauge conversion and much more.

Where NFR has lagged behind is the lack of electrification – of course, the reason for this was power supply constraints and economic reasons. With the renewed thrust from the government, it is likely that the 34 projects that

are being worked on will be completed.

One of the essential factors in the development of infrastructure will be the close ties between the state governments of the North-East and Delhi. It is here that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will have to play a leading role in “educating” the leaders and the people on how important connectivity could be for the region. The stumbling blocks — whether it is for the railways or even road projects — will be the acquisition of land. Always a touchy subject anywhere in the country, it will be important for all — politicians and citizens — to agree that the Railways has to be a viable alternate means of transportation in the region.

Simultaneously with the railways, road and shipping ministries have also joined in the ‘Rejuvenate the North-East’ programme. It is heartening to note that a Mumbai-based business house has decided to start regular cargo flights to the North-East from Kolkata. Many attempts have been made for freighter flights to Assam and other northeastern states but they have all fallen by the wayside due to a variety of reasons.

All this will contribute significantly in the creation of a north-east frontier economic corridor that has been proposed in the FICCI-PwC study. The report stated that such economic corridors connecting “economic agents along a defined geography could provide a vital boost to the pace of development in resource-rich regions such as the North-East”. These corridors “link the supply and demand sides of the markets”.

Now that the first steps have been taken, industry leaders, entrepreneurs and others will move forward “to work” what the FICCI Secretary General has termed as “realising the very real potential for transformation that the future holds”.

Till then, happy reading! tghosh@newsline.in

Cargo & Logistics I December 2014

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contents ARTICLES NEWS VIEWS EDITS INTERVIEWS CLIPPINGS PROFILES NEWS DIGEST STATISTICS COLUMNS

CONTENTS

C&L

VOLUME III n NO 10

Editor-in-Chief

K SRINIVASAN Managing Editor TIRTHANKAR GHOSH Consulting Editor RAMESH KUMAR Senior Sub-Editor-cum-Reporter PUNIT MISHRA

COVER STORY

p12

The Central Government has changed the ‘Look-East Policy’ to ‘Act East Policy’ to make the northeastern region a trade and business hub of South East Asia. The government has sanctioned `53,000 crore for overall development of the region in the last budget.

In fact, the concerted push would bring the ‘Eight Sisters’ of the North-East centrestage.

SPOTLIGHT

p22

Things have not changed much from ancient times in the storage and preservation of foodgrains. The issue of warehousing has remained crucial and topical around the world. C&L takes a look at the fascinating world of storage warehousing in the Indian context in Karnataka and Assam.

18

COLUMN

p28

A new report from DHL entitled ‘Self-Driving Vehicles in Logistics’ looks at the technology and potential applications for autonomous vehicles, including those within the logistics supply chain. The report describes the benefits and limitations of the technology and says that these vehicles will change the world of logistics.

Picture Editor PRADEEP CHANDRA

Director (Admin & Corporate Affairs) RAJIV SINGH

32

NEWS IN BRIEF

IATA has published the first edition of its Lithium Battery Risk Mitigation Guidance for Operators. Lithium batteries transported as cargo will be restricted to cargo aircraft only from January 1, 2015. In the land section, DB Schenker has opened new offices at Vapi in western India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging off the first train from Mendipathar in North Garo Hills of Meghalaya to Guwahati, at the Maligaon Railway Stadium in Guwahati, in Assam on November 29, 2014.

December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

Designers NAGENDER DUBEY, MOHIT KANSAL

Staff Photographer HEMANT RAWAT

On the cover

4

Correspondents ANJANA TANWAR, NAVEED ANJUM, CHARCHIT SINGH

Photo Editor HC TIWARI

The demand to make India an air cargo hub has been raised time and again and today the nation is looking forward to it. Though a few airports around the country have taken the initiative to become gateways, a world-class hub still remains a dream.

FOCUS

Sr. Proof Reader RAJESH VAID

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+91-9810030533, 9810159332 Editorial & Marketing office: News Kingdom Media Pvt. Ltd., D-11 Basement ,Nizamuddin East, New Delhi –110 013, Tel: +91-11-41033381-82 All information in C&L is derived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or in interviews are not necessarily shared by us. Material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The publisher assumes no responsibility for material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code.

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JUST IN TIME

OCTOBER SAW CARGO GROWTH

ALASKA AIRLINES

TREND

BOOST IN VOLUME: Cargo being loaded on a freighter

T

he International Air Transport Association (IATA) released the October 2014 data for global air freight markets. It showed that the strong performance of air cargo in recent months is continuing.

Demand, measured in Freight Tonne Kilometers (FTK), rose 5.4 per cent in October compared to October 2013. Compared to September, demand grew by 0.7 per cent bringing freight volumes to a new record monthly high.

The good results reflect the improvements in world trade and business activity which have been evident since the summer.

World trade is growing steadily, supporting increased air cargo shipments. Regional differentiation in performance, however, is apparent. Carriers in the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific saw demand grow faster than the global trend, while North America, Europe and Latin America grew more slowly. More significantly, however, carriers in all regions except for Europe improved on their year-to-date performance.

Cargo demand for European carriers grew by a weak 1.4 per cent compared to the previous October, reflecting economic uncertainty and the impact of sanctions as a result of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, IATA said.

WorldACD Market Data which was recently released said, “October’s air cargo growth, better than 2013, is prompting the view that 2014 will become the second-best year for revenues since 2008, despite a 10.4

6

December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

per cent yield drop since 2011, the best post-crisis year to date. October 2014 saw a volume increase of 5.5 per cent year-overyear (YoY). Yields (in US dollars) dropped 2.3 per cent YoY, but increased two per cent Month-on-Month (MoM). Until October came along, 2013 had been another lacklustre year for air cargo. Since that strong month, business has continuously looked up.” According to WorldACD, the Trans-Pacific did considerably better than other major markets in October and the full year’s figures for the Transpac market could still improve, given the maritime container congestion in west coast US ports. Carriers from the Middle East and Europe play a role in the markets between Asia Pacific and the Americas, mostly through transport via their home bases. Their volume shares may be small, but they increased considerably, to the detriment of the shares of Asian and (even more) American carriers.

Preliminary traffic figures for the month of October released by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) also showed continued growth in air cargo demand. International air freight demand, as measured in FTK, grew by a firm 6.4 per cent in October, on the back of buoyant demand for electronic goods from manufacturing hubs in North Asia. Combined with a more modest 3.8 per cent increase in offered freight capacity, the average international freight load factor climbed 1.5 percentage points to average 66.4 per cent for the month.

In July 2014, for the first time ever, DB Schenker combined transportation by rail, road and air across three continents to organise a delivery for an electronics manufacturer from China to South America. This innovation has now prevailed in the market in less than a half year. Shippers are now utilising the service provided by DB Schenker’s new transcontinental rail-road-air link from Chongqing in central China to Viracopos near Sao Paulo. “Actually, we are speaking of a truck-rail-truckair-truck solution for getting Chinaproduced electronic components to the final consignees located somewhere in Brazil,” specified Daniel Wieland, DB Schenker’s Senior VP Rail Logistics and Forwarding. From July until December this year, ten such transports have been accomplished. “We are not speaking of entire cargo trains but single 40 foot containers that we forward from Chongqing to Viracopos very consistently,” said Wieland.

The combination of rail, truck and air freight has shortened the journey time from Asia to South America by almost four weeks compared with using ocean freight alone. The shipments are picked up at the consignee’s production plant by truck, brought to the Chongqing railway station. After clearances, they start their train journey that ends at Duisburg station in Germany. Trucks again come into the picture for bringing them from Duisburg’s freight terminal to Frankfurt Rhine-Main airport. There, the interior of the large steel boxes are deconsolidated and bundled into to new shipments before the consignments are loaded on board one of LAN Cargo’s freighter aircraft and flown across the South Atlantic to Viracopos Airport in Brazil. After Custom clearance it’s again trucks that transport the items to the final Brazilian consignees.

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JUST IN TIME

AUF WIEDERSEHEN, OLIVER EVANS!

W

hile Swiss WorldCargo will miss the departure of its iconic Chief Cargo Officer Oliver Evans — the gentleman that he is, Evans has told his employer that his last day in office would be September 30, 2015 — the world of cargo and logistics will probably miss his incisive comments in ‘Blogistics’, possibly the only blog by an air cargo veteran. Evans has announced that he would stay on in Switzerland, his first love: “I fell in love with the country, as did my family. I’ve not been tempted by any other opportunity that has floated past my desk. Of course I have had talks with Lufthansa, but I have no desire to go to Frankfurt and I don’t want to commute, or relocate. I love this country,” he confessed to a magazine recently.

It is from there that he will pursue his other love: the air logistics industry. He wants to train people and follow future applications of technology.

Today, SWC and Oliver Evans have become synonymous. One cannot think of one without the other. After all, Evans has been with the carrier since 2002. He joined as Chief Cargo Officer, following stints at KLM, BAX and others. For some time — in 2004 — he handled passengers but he realised that he loved cargo more and moved back to his position.

Evans knew the business inside out and it was under him that SWC became a world class quality carrier. His out of the box moves has taken the carrier to where it is today. Among these, the notable one was his efforts to do away with paper documentation in cargo and transmit data electronically. Speaking at a conference sometime ago, he said, “It’s my fantastic team that made SWC to a globally recognized brand. So it’s these members that in particular deserve the credits.”

Oliver Evans has also contributed a lot to the industry globally. He was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors at TIACA in April 2013 for two years. That term will end in May 2015

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December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

Oliver Evans

and he has said that he would not look at another position in TIACA after that.

Swiss CEO Harry Hohmeister has said that he was sad to see Evans go.

Speaking about Evans work in SWC, Hohmeister said: “We are very sorry to see him go; but we fully appreciate his desire for a change after all these years…Oliver has been instrumental in setting a clear course for our air freight activities. He decided early on to keep away from the mass-volume business and to become a global leader in transporting high-value and care-intensive consignments for industrial sectors.”

Meanwhile, the carrier’s management has started looking for a successor who should be in place by Easter next year.

e-AWB penetration close to the target

I

n October, e-AWB penetration reached 20.7 per cent, 0.8 per cent up from September. With the year coming to an end, e-AWB adoption was on its track to reach the industry target of 22 per cent but collective focus was still to be maintained.

Airlines continued to engage with their freight forwarder partners and many airlines had started to offer the Single Process. In a highly anticipated development, Shanghai Pudong airport, the largest location (by AWB volume) not

fully e-AWB capable until now, is now fully open to e-AWB on import and export, for all airlines. This was a major development which would open up many new possibilities for e-AWB for airlines and forwarders across the globe. This was the result of great collaboration involving many parties, to engage with the China Customs Authorities.

Other than this the Americas region continued to drive strong growth with 1.4 per cent increase month over month, almost double the global average. % e-AWB Penetration

% Growth month over month

Finland

21.7%

6.8%

Turkey

18.0%

6.2%

Denmark

15.5%

3.3%

Delta Air Lines

40.1%

4.3%

Qatar Airways

21.3%

3.9%

IAG - British Airways

26.1%

2.2%

EXPEDITORS

31.6%

3.6%

CEVA GROUP

21.4%

1.5%

35.2%

1.5%

COUNTRY/LOCATION

AIRLINES

FREIGHT FORWARDERS

HELLMANN WORLDWIDE LOGISTICS

NUMBERS

7%

RISE IN FREIGHT FOR ETIHAD CARGO

ä

Etihad Cargo, the freight division of Etihad Airways, said it achieved an all-time record in November when it carried 53,292 tonnes across its global network in one month. This is an increase on its previous monthly record of 51,688 tonnes carried in October, up seven per cent on the same month last year. Etihad Cargo’s total uplift for 2014 is forecast to top 570,000 tonnes, a 17 per cent increase on 2013.

This performance, based on strong market demand, the expansion of its global reach, and the smooth handling operations at its hub in Abu Dhabi, has already enabled Etihad Cargo to secure over US$ I billion in revenue to-date, the company added.

5.24%

RISE IN RAILWAY FREIGHT TRAFFIC

ä

Indian Railways reported an increase of 5.24 per cent in freight traffic ferried during the April 1 – November 30, 2014 period. According to the Railways, it carried 713.11 million tonnes of freight as compared to 677.58 million tonnes ferried during the corresponding period last year. During November 2014, the revenue earning freight traffic carried by Indian Railways was 91.45 million tonnes, which was 8.47 per cent higher than the 84.31 million tonnes carried during the same month of last year.

Revenue earnings of the railways during the same period saw an increase of 12.36 per cent in comparison to last year.

The railways earned revenue of `100622 crore compared to `89341.26 crore during the same period last year.

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December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

20th

BIRTHDAY FOR LUFTHANSA CARGO

ä

Lufthansa Cargo is celebrating two decades as an independent business after Deutsche Lufthansa AG pooled its cargo activities into a separate company.

Germany’s freight flagship carrier stated: “Flying cargo has always played a major role at Lufthansa and its predecessors;

A few weeks after its official foundation, Lufthansa Cargo started operating with a fleet of five McDonnell Douglas DC8 freighters, ten Boeing 747-200Fs and two Boeing 737 freighters in January 1995.

Twenty years later, Lufthansa Cargo flies both with MD-11F and brand-new B777

however, it was not until the founding of a dedicated cargo segment that the airline’s air freight business truly took off.”

freighters. Lufthansa Cargo is well-prepared for the future with its strategy programme “Lufthansa Cargo 2020”.

25-30% ä

CUT IN CUSTOMS DUTY ON SHIP FUEL

The central government is planning to remove the 25-30 per cent customs duty levied on fuels used by Indian ships and ease other logistical hurdles to push for more usage of the sea route for both domestic and international cargo. The decision has been taken for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign to transport goods manufactured in India in a cost-effective way. The move follows Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari’s plans to develop the sector that is seen as essential in providing the much-needed connectivity for the Prime Minister’s campaign.

The immediate impact of such a move will see a revenue loss of just around `60

crore per annum but its potential in driving the use of the sea route for moving goods for domestic and export markets is seen at an additional `1,000 crore.

NUMBERS

`7,000

CR FOR DHAMRA PORT EXPANSION

ä

Adani Group-owned Dhamra Port Company Limited (DCPL) would invest around `7,000 crore for expansion of cargo handling facility. The number of berths will be increased from 2 to 13. The company has received all the necessary clearances and work will start soon.

Gujarat-based Adani group bought out L&T and Tata Steel’s shares in the company in March 2014 at an enterprise value of `5,500 crore. Following the acquisition, the second phase of development was to be initiated within 90 days and completion targeted in 30 months. This continued expansion will allow Dhamra port to exceed 100 million tonnes of cargo capacity by the year 2020.

The port, situated between Haldia in West Bengal and Paradip in Odisha, was mostly handling cargo like coal and limestone.

`4000

$2.5bn

LAWSUIT BY DB SCHENKER

ä

Logistics firm and freight forwarder DB Schenker, a subsidiary of German rail giant Deutsche Bahn, filed civil lawsuits in the US and Germany against 15 airlines, claiming $2.5 billion in damages related to the fixing of surcharge prices between 1999 and 2006.

The US suit, claiming about $370 million, named seven carriers: Air France, All Nippon Airways, Cargolux, KLM, Martinair, Qantas and SAS. The US Department of Justice charged all seven with violating antitrust laws by fixing the prices of fuel and security surcharges, and all seven pleaded guilty. Deutsche Bahn said that the court could choose to award triple damages, in which case the total could rise to $1.1 billion. The German suit, claiming about $2.2 billion, named 11 carriers: Air Canada, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Cargolux, Japan Airlines, LAN, Lufthansa, Qantas, SAS, Singapore Airlines and Swiss Airlines. DB Schenker charged that the carriers were involved in a conspiracy

to fix surcharge prices.

In both suits, DB Schenker was seeking not only compensation for damages but also for the interest accrued on those damages since alleged activity occurred. DB Schenker has already taken part in class action lawsuits in this matter and has settled with some carriers.

However, it had not reached agreements with the carriers named in the suits.

`280

CR EARNED BY INDIA POST VIA COD

CR LNG TERMINAL FOR MbPT

ä

Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) is planning to develop a LNG terminal worth `4,000 crore on the outskirts of the city to complement its liquid cargo handling business and earn additional revenue.

MbPT will float a request for qualification (RFQ) to invite energy firms to build the terminal at the Karanja ground near Uran, located around 50 km from Mumbai. MbPT will contribute around `700 crore towards the project, apart from the land it provides for the LNG terminal. The remaining amount will be funded by the company the Port Trust decides to tie up with. The terminal, with a floating storage and re-gasification unit, will be able to handle five million

ä

tonnes per annum (mtpa). It is also likely to be connected to the national pipeline grid so that the natural gas can be transported all the way up to Panipat in Haryana.

At present, there are four LNG terminals commissioned in India: at Dahej and Hazira (Gujarat), Kochi (Kerala) and Dabhol (Maharashtra). These have a total capacity of 22 mtpa, which is expected to be increased to 32.5 mtpa by FY 17.

Joining the e-commerce sector as a distribution channel has proved to be a great move for India Post. India Post has earned `280 crore through Cash-on-Delivery (CoD) segment alone for firms like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon. While the amount of revenue generated for itself could not be calculated. India Post is very keen to develop its e-commerce related services as a major revenue model going ahead. However, this is a small chunk of the overall market size for e-commerce in India, which runs into billions of dollars already and is growing at a fast pace every year.

CoD has emerged as one of the most sought after services for e-commerce entities and 50-75 per cent of orders are placed with various online retailers with this payment option, while the remaining opt for credit card or bank payments.

Cargo & Logistics I December 2014

11

COVER STORY

Connecting the North-East In the over-60 years of Independence, while the country has made great strides, the fruits of development have yet to reach the North-East. The region has potential to become a hub of economic activity and trade for India. The region could become an economic corridor connecting India, Myanmar, Bangladesh and the ASEAN. For this to happen, massive investments in connectivity will be needed and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to ‘Act East’ has received overwhelming response. A close look at what the initiative entails

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December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

COVER STORY

FLICKR

P

rime Minister Narendra Modi, on his four state tour of the NorthEast, some time ago, pointed out that according to Vaastu Shastra, if one keeps the Eshan (Northeast) corner of a house in order, it helps boost the prosperity of the house. In the same way, the PM said that if India’s northeast is in order, it would help the rest of the country.

The government’s focus, then, on development of the North Eastern region comprising eight states — Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram — has seen the creation of a special informal group within the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) of the cabinet secretariat that is responsible for fast-tracking projects in northeast region. The central government has already identified 21 such key projects — nine projects from Arunachal Pradesh, seven from Assam, three from Tripura and one each from Meghalaya and Manipur — amounting to a total of `1,00,151 crores.

So concentrated has been the thrust that in the first three months of the government’s tenure approvals have come for building roads in the North-East; improve telecommunication links with optical fibre connectivity; set up a power transmission network and upgradation of railway infrastructure.

Along with that 39 Members of Parliament from the North-East — both from the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha — have been called for a meeting with Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh in the middle of December to start, what many North-East watchers have described as “resurgence in the region”. Singh said that the said development of the country’s North-East was “high on the agenda” of the BJP-led government in addition, of course, of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A communiqué said: “In a bid to ensure greater involvement of the people’s representatives in decision-making, Singh has also requested each of the Northeast MPs

The region needs to have larger influence in the trade with countries with which it shares its borders such as Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan as these regions present a ready-to serve market for the industrial base in the North-East to submit their preference and priority for the ongoing as well as prospective projects in the region.”

On the other hand, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Rural Development Nitin Gadkari said that the Centre has constituted a special corporation to ensure the development of roads in the region. Plans have been chalked out for the investment of `30,000 crore for the construction of 10,141km of roads.

In fact, over the years, the region has demanded development of infrastructure.

A recent Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)-PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report, Gateway to the ASEAN-India’s North East Frontier, has pointed out that while connectivity has improved in the region, intra-regional connectivity was sparse. According to Ranjit Barthakur, Chairman, FICCI, North East Advisory Council, “Over the course of the last two years, the North East Advisory Council of FICCI has deliberated at length

Cargo & Logistics I December 2014

13

COVER STORY

about the idea of connecting the region.

We have consulted a cross-section of people from the government, businessmen and professionals in the North-east and in our neighbouring countries. While our belief in the potential of the region has grown stronger, it has also become apparent that the most critical part is to restore the connectivity linkages.”

It is not without reason that the report has incorporated a few key ideas for ramping up connectivity that includes the development of a seamless river transport system, a 4000-km-long ring road connecting all the North-Eastern states, development of an economic corridor connecting NorthEast India with Myanmar and Bangladesh, 53 development nodes, border townships, development of a railway network, a number of new airports, etc.

The report specifically states that “lack of physical and industrial infrastructure facilities have been a significant roadblock for the small and medium enterprises in the region as it impacts both the movement of goods and people in the region’ and concludes “it is imperative that the primary developmental focus be on infrastructure”.

The report also states that “given its geographical location, NE India needs to capture a much larger share of the growing trade between India and its eastern neighbours. The region needs to have larger influence in the trade with countries with which it shares its borders such as Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan as these regions present a ready-to serve market for the industrial base in the North-East”.

Giving reasons for the development of connectivity in the North-East, the report mentions that the region is connected by rail and road with the rest of India only through the 22-km-wide Chicken’s Neck (Siliguri Corridor). The lack of connectivity through Bangladesh has made connectivity between most parts of the region and mainland India rather difficult and circuitous. For example, the distance between Agartala and Kolkata through Bangladesh is only 457 km while through the Chicken’s Neck, the distance becomes 1650 km.

As for road infrastructure in the region, it is relatively deficient in the region. This, despite the fact that the region’s road density per capita is significantly higher as com-

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December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

The ASEAN connection D

elhi has been keen to strengthen links with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) by building on connectivity. Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry, said that “relations with the ASEAN CONNECTING LINKS: A board of India-Myanmar Friendship road have become one The air and road links would go a of the cornerstones of our (India’s) long way to boost India’s trade with foreign policy, given the growing ecoASEAN nations that is presently only nomic clout of countries in this region 30 per cent of the total ASEAN trade and the changing geo-political sceand Wadhwa was only echoing Externario”. He was speaking at the ASEAN nal Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj Ambassadors Interactive Roundtable who emphasised the need for ‘conForum in Delhi some months ago. nectivity’ during her recent visit to Wadhwa went on to mention that India Vietnam. was also negotiating a Regional ComA recent Standard Chartered reprehensive Economic Partnership port has pointed out that Indian ex(RCEP) which aimed to be the largest ports to ASEAN would rise in the next free-trade bloc in the world, compris10 years to $280 billion a year, from ing all 10 ASEAN nations and six oththe $33.13 billion in Financial Year er countries with which the group has 2013-14. Indian exports would comfree-trade agreements -- including Inprise petroleum products, chemicals, dia. The RCEP bloc represented 49 per vehicles and auto parts, pharma, cent of the world’s population, 29 per gems and jewellery and garments. cent of world trade and 26 per cent of The Master Plan on ASEAN Conworld Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) nectivity emphasised “the vision of inflows. the ASEAN leaders to build an ASEUnderlining the need for connecAN community by 2015 that calls for a tivity, Wadhwa also said that “to enwell-connected ASEAN that will conhance air linkages with ASEAN and fatribute towards a more competitive cilitate movement of people we offered and resilient ASEAN, as it will bring to air carriers in ASEAN countries, 18 peoples, goods, services and capidestinations in India’s Tier-II and Tital closer together”. The recent 30th er-III cities, some years ago. We call ASEAN Air Transport Working Group upon the air carriers in ASEAN to utiMeeting also discussed liberalisation lise this offer at the earliest, as Tier-II of the restrictions on civil aviation in and -III cities in India are much larger ASEAN. The target was to launch the than Tier cities elsewhere, and are on ASEAN Single Aviation Market in 2015 a growth path. Singapore, Malaysia and although industry leaders were and Thailand are already operating on doubtful it would be fully realised, some of these routes. We have also some were keen to keep moving foroffered the ASEAN an Open Sky Policy ward. on Cargo on quid pro quo basis”.

COVER STORY

WIKIMEDIA

TO FLY: Ground procedures complete, cargo is ready to move on

AIR CONNECTIVITY: A view of Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati

pared to the rest of the country. The total length of National Highways in the region is 8,480 km and the states have 5,711 km of state highways (SHs) and 15,154 km of major district roads (MDRs). In most NE states, village and district roads are dominant. These roads are particularly important for facilitating intra-state movement of people and freight.

Even the railway infrastructure is inadequate. The region has about 2,600 km of railway lines, but till today only two state capitals are connected by railway with most of the lines lying in the states of Assam and Tripura.

It is well-known that constructing railway tracks in the hilly terrain of the region is difficult and expensive. This has led to absence or nominal presence of railway lines in the hilly states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

Although significant improvements are noticeable in air connectivity with mainland India, intraregional air connectivity is still poor. In fact, the number of functioning airports in the region has reduced from 17 in the ’70s to 11 at present. The Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport in Guwahati, Assam, is the region’s only international airport, Besides Guwaha-

ti, Assam has five other domestic airports in Tezpur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Silchar and North.

Inland water transport could be a viable, cost-effective alternative in the plains of the region, given the high cost of expanding other modes of transportation, the report states. Major river routes in the region are the Brahmaputra and the Barak rivers in Assam which have been declared as National Waterways 2 and 6, respectively. In all, the region has about 3,839 km of navigable river routes. At present, both NW2 and NW6 lack adequate draft to support vessels with draft of two metres or more for most part of the year. In the entire region, there is only one IWT terminal (Pandu, Assam) which meets the minimum requisite criterion of a terminal.

The FICCI-PwC report has proposed the setting up of development nodes at strategic locations along the transportation corridors and also the feeder corridors. It has been proposed that 53 development nodes be set up across the region along with the development of highways and railways.

Further, 20 more nodes can be set up along the two major IWT routes of the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers.

Air connectivity too will play a key role in improving the overall connectivity to and

in the region. There are 12 airports and airstrips in the region, which are currently not in use. All the 12 airports need to be developed to run dedicated regional air service with smaller aircraft.

Some key steps that need to be taken are listed in the report. They are: • Ensure flight connectivity to Tezpur and Tura airports.

• Expedite development of Greenfield airports at Itanagar, Kohima and Pekyong (Sikkim).

• Develop non-functioning airports at Daporizo, Zero, Along, Passighat, Rupsi and Kamalpur.

• Expand helicopter services (accompanied by the creation of additional helipads) and use of smaller (short takeoff and landing) aircrafts to promote intra-regional mobility as well.

• Provide night halt facility at Guwahati, Imphal and Agartala.

• Establish budget airport hotels in Guwahati, Imphal and Agartala.

• Improve cargo handling facility at Guwahati, Imphal and Agartala.

• Establish a perishable cargo complex in Guwahati.

It is in the context of air connectivity that entrepreneurs have started charting out plans to connect the landlocked North-East

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COVER STORY

WATER CONNECTION: A steamer on the Brahmaputra river connecting the North-East with other remote parts of the country

of the country. While a number of domestic airlines have regular flights to the region’s main airports spanning across the eight states, there are no dedicated cargo flights.

Road and rail connections are doing the job but they are time-consuming. Freighter flights from Kolkata do, however, take place but they are few and far between.

Stepping into the air cargo arena, Mumbai’s Sovika Group has charted out plans to launch a regular dedicated cargo airline service. Starting in the next couple of months with its base in Kolkata, the Sovika Aviation Services’ daily cargo service will see an ATR72 plying to the airports in the North-East. There were 17 airports in the 1970s but today there are only 11 functioning.

Speaking about the services, Akhilesh Rao, Senior Vice President, Sovika Group, told this correspondent, “We had been toying with the idea for quite some time. Aviation is not new to us. We have been in this business i.e Air Craft Leasing/Charters/ Ground Handling/Terminal Management/ Passenger GSA/Cargo GSA/ Business Aviation charters for more than two decades.

We realised that the North-East was one of the under-developed regions and flying car-

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go flights would help the region’s economy hence we have decided to take this initiative forward,” Rao emphasised that the flights would be in tune with the government’s ‘Act East’ policy.

Sovika’s management has done the required groundwork and have received 100 per cent support and assurance from the governments in Assam and Meghalaya.

Along with the state governments of the region, the local trading community too, has welcomed the move and given assurance of their full support.

Sovika hopes the freighter flights will be economically viable. “We hope to carry at least 10 tonnes of cargo to and from the Northeast every day. While cargo is carried by passenger aircraft, there are delays since there is lack of space in the aircraft,” said Rao. It is mandatory for domestic operators to operate commercial flights to the North-East – even though they might not be viable. Flights to the region have to adhere to the civil aviation ministry’s Route Dispersal Guidelines (RDG) which makes it obligatory for all Indian carriers to connect to destinations in the North East and other remote parts of the country. To less-

en the financial burden for operating such flights that are not economically viable but socially important, the government provides a subsidy. Almost two years ago, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) had sent out a proposal to subsidise flights by private domestic carriers. The move came after a number of private airlines told the government that they would reduce the number of flights to the airports of the North-East because of operation losses. To encourage flights, for example, small aircraft like the ATRs do not have to pay airport charges in the NorthEast while ATF is available at only four per cent VAT instead of the 25-30 per cent for bigger aircraft.

In fact, a couple of months ago, the North Eastern Council (NEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Air India subsidiary Alliance Air to operate ATR flights in North-East till 2016. For this, the NEC has assured to get concessions for ATF, etc. Alliance Air had been operating 65 flights a week to the region till the end of 2012. After that, due to non-receipt of the government subsidy, the carrier had reduced capacity, operating only on the economically viable routes.

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COLUMN

Indian aviation hub is a dream There have been innumerable instances when logistics and airline stakeholders have raised the issue of making India an air cargo hub. Is there a possibility of such a hub ever being created? Airports like Hyderabad and Bengaluru have stated their intention of becoming major gateways of South India. However, till the infrastructure around the airport and the links to the airport from the hinterland are completed there is no way these airports could become gateways. J KRISHNAN lists out the bare essentials that go into the creation of a hub and concludes that in the current scenario, Aviation Hubs — Regional or International — will remain a distant dream

T

he physical distances between manufacturing and consuming nations as a well accepted concept emerged during the 1980s and have since grown from strength to strength. This concept was made successful with the advent of efficient international transport networks primarily through sea and as the unit value of these goods increased the air mode also grew in importance. Manufacturing concepts like JIT (Just in Time), SCM (Supply Chain management), VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory), IOR (Importer on record) are some of the advanced concept in current day logistics.

While nations trade between them, the merchandise dispatched from factories to the sales depot needs not travel directly between the trading nations. This flexibility in the physical transportation witnessed the emergence of particular seaports and airports to emerge as hubs. The major air cargo hubs across the world are less than 10. These include: Frankfurt, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Dubai, Singapore, Hongkong (Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok are emerging hubs)*. It is interesting to note there are no major international air cargo hubs located in South/Central America, Australia and Africa. Similarly, there are no noteworthy general cargo hubs for air cargo in USA and Canada.

A study of the existing air cargo hubs would identify certain common threads that have helped these airports to become major hubs. These are: • Infrastructure strengthened by state-of-art technology • Frequency of flights of not less than a minimum of 100 destinations across continents.

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• • •

• J Krishnan

•

India has an advantage over many nations because of its open sky policy for air cargo transportation. However this forward looking policy initiative set in motion when A V Ganesan was the Civil Aviation Secretary has not reaped its full dividends primarily because of the national carrier(s) continued focus on passenger transportation.

• •

•

Proximity to international markets Absence of red tape or excessive regulatory paperwork Availability of other modes of despatch in close proximity (Sea/Air, Air/Sea, Air/Surface, especially in Europe) Strong national carrier backed by their governments that have established a plethora of favourable bilateral aviation agreements across nations National carriers that have constantly based their aircraft fleet acquisition where belly cargo hold capacity plays a major role.

Politically stable environment Committed and Skilled workforce at these hubs with specialisation in perishables, live animals, Dangerous Goods, Cool Chain (Pharma), valuable cargo handling, etc.

(This is only an illustrative list).

Transparency in pricing and performance.

The other important aspect of a successful hub is the directional imbalance on inbound/ outbound cargo originating locally. As a result of this directional imbalance, one can witness that at all these major hubs there is an excess of transshipment cargo throughput over destination cargo.

The development of an air cargo hub in India needs to address all of the above common threads. India has an advantage over many nations because of its open sky policy for air cargo transportation. However this forward looking policy initiative set in motion when A V Ganesan was the Civil Aviation Secretary has not reaped its full dividends primarily because of the national carrier(s) continued focus on passenger transportation. Cargo has been viewed as

COLUMN

supplementary or incremental revenue. In addition, there is inadequate handling facility at the various gateway airports and cumbersome transshipment rules and procedures. Incidentally, directional imbalance between cargo destined to India and despatched from India is not as acute as it is at the other hubs identified earlier.

India has a geographical advantage to operate as a successful hub initially serving the emerging markets in SAARC, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Maldives. This cautious start would provide the requisite knowledge and expertise to take on the other existing major Middle Eastern/Asian Hubs and expand its reach up to Japan in the east and entire Africa.

Medium-capacity all cargo fleet with an uplift tonnage between 15 to 25 tonnes need to be positioned at the identified hub. There can be only one hub located in India. The project can become successful only if strong tie ups/blocked space arrangements are entered with carriers currently operating to and from India and do not fly to the countries identified. Such a hub will open up currently sub-serviced markets to the carriers that participate. Pricing will play a key role in this project and detailed studies on prevailing market rates, operating costs and revenue sharing between the participating carriers is essential prior to roll out.

Perhaps, the greater concern is the lack of dedicated, automated transshipment terminals at Indian airports. The gateway airport at Mumbai, for example, faces severe congestion and acute delays even to serve the existing originating volumes satisfactorily.

Documentation has always remained the bane of efficiency at our airports. To cite a small example: At the Sharjah transhipment facility that operated successfully for a few years

by Lufthansa for cargo originating from the sub-continent, there was no paperwork for both

India has a geographical advantage to operate as a successful hub initially serving the emerging markets in SAARC, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Maldives. This cautious start would provide the requisite knowledge and expertise to take on the other existing major Middle Eastern/Asian Hubs and expand its reach up to Japan in the east and entire Africa

inbound and outbound cargo. The only regulatory supervision was the presence of security agencies.

While India offers a stable political environment and skilled workforce, the existing airport infrastructure and user charges act as a major disincentive in attracting customers.

A South Asian hub will enable carriers that do not serve many counties in the region to consolidate the cargo destined to various airports in ULDs and these goods can then be de-vanned and placed on individual aircraft operating to identified airports.

Inbound cargo from many participating operators will also ensure a critical mass for servicing the regional airports. Another initiative that may be considered is permitting agents handling bonded premises inside the hub airport as this will enhance the marketing efforts to develop the hub. An aerocity that will be declared as a SEZ would drastically reduce the regulatory compliances and also bring in the requisite investment in modern equipment to process transshipment cargo.

Establishing and operating an international air cargo hub in India requires a dedicated core group of decision-making officials from the ministries complemented by experienced industry players to handle this as a time bound project.

The current deficiencies in Regulations, Infrastructure, Processes and Policy needs to be identified and innovative solutions found.

Commercials will ultimately determine the success of the project as India does not enjoy the first mover advantage. In the current scenario Aviation Hubs — Regional or International — will remain a distant dream. *(The Integrator Hubs of Memphis, Louisville are not within the scope of this note).

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INTERVIEW

“We find, fix current challenges and prevent future ones” Vasu Ramanujam, Senior Director, India Operations, Entercoms, in conversation with Consulting Editor Ramesh Kumar and Sarada Vishnubhatla in Pune. Excerpts: What’s Entercoms up to?

Entercoms is into optimization of the After Market: service, spare parts and warranty.

These are the three verticals under After Market that we look at for different customers in different verticals such as Oil & Gas, Automotive, Office Equipment, Computers, Mobility, Contract Manufacturing, Industrial and so on. Basically, we put money back into their pockets by either reducing cost and increasing efficiency or improving their customer satisfaction levels. We are experts in data management. In other words, we are experts in extracting, cleaning, analyzing and visualizing data. Because of our services, they are able to focus their attention on where they should be instead of looking at loads of data. Mind you, all these companies have lots of data.

Does data analysis happen?

It doesn’t happen enough because it’s too much. Companies end up focusing on a small part of the problem because that is what is palatable; whereas what we are able to do is show all the data visually in such a manner that they can easily see where the problems are. Thus, they know where to focus their energies, drill down and go to the root of the problem and fix it. We are able to prevent future problems.

What is your team size?

We are about 500 people in Pune. In India, we are only in Pune. We have an office in Ireland (Cork), two offices in the US (Dallas and Denver). Over all, we are 600 people strong worldwide – the largest office being in India.

pany, it began as an outsourced software product development company. After Market was the domain. After working for a few years with some of the world’s leading software companies building their products and implementing them, we realized that in the After Market segment, software is useful only up to a certain extent. Human intelligence and intervention at the right time and in the right way is equally important. So, we switched our business model to delivering on our customer’s KPIs (key performance indicator) as opposed to building and implementing software. That, and an insistence on 100 per cent customer referenceability, has brought us to where we are today.

Today, unless we add significant value to our customer, we do not take up the job. And to assess if we can add significant value, we do a workshop upfront even before making a proposal. Typically, the customer pays for the cost of doing the workshop.

What is the duration of these workshops?

It depends on a couple of factors. A) The complexity of what we are solving – somebody wants the inventory turns to go up; somebody wants the backlog to come down.

That is, the objectives are different.

B) Sometimes customers engage us to look at one geography or one product line and expand over time; sometimes it is the entire service chain. We have to look at the quality and quantity of their data, understand stakeholder objectives and roadmaps, current processes and so on. The shortest workshop that we have had is a few weeks and the longest is three months.

What do you mean by cleaning of the data?

How did Entercoms come about?

Ten years ago, when two persons of Indian-origin based in Dallas started the com-

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Let’s go back to the origin of the data. Most large companies have ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning). They have all the software

that they need and more but the problem is almost all the data is unusable as is. The reason for that is when ERPs got implemented towards the turn of the century, it was under the threat of Y2K and because of that everybody was in a hurry to implement it, they cut corners, and did not pay attention to validations. As a result, there is a lot of junk data sitting in ERPs. We have patented algorithms for cleaning data.

Another problem with the After Market is that it is extreme downstream. So, when the After Market event happens we are forced to use junk data that is dated and the Service Manager has to manage inspite of having junk data. It’s a thankless job and their companies have not invested in technology for their operations.

What you are trying to saying is, the persons who are working in After Market have the expertise but they are not tech savvy…

I will tell you this without naming the company: A large respected company in India spent hundreds of crores of rupees in implementing ERP across their operations and guess what — their After Market was still using only spreadsheets. That is how much of a step-motherly treatment the After Market segment gets. This is not unique. Everywhere, it is the same story.

But today there is a realisation that After Market is a separate revenue earner, because that’s where the money comes in...

Companies love to put up posters claiming customer intimacy, customer delight, etc. but they don’t put money to back it up; they don’t invest in technology. And I am happy

INTERVIEW

to say that there are a few companies where we see that the best salesman is now running service which is a very welcome trend because the best salesman is the guy who has the customer’s best interest in his mind and if he is running service that is how it should be and that trend we see happening now in India.

Because service was never taken seriously in India...

Today, there are companies in India where service is given free. It’s not even treated as a revenue stream, so they don’t really care.

But actually people are willing to pay for good service...

I had this very interesting experience in a previous company. I was working in the CEO’s office of that company. On this particular day, the CEO and the entire management team was in a Project Review meeting.

I was in my office and suddenly the door opens and this elderly gentleman comes in and sits in front of me, introduces himself as a customer and says, “My plant is down because of your refrigeration compressor.

Production is down. I am losing `2 crore a day. I have gone through your entire hierarchy. People are not willing to help me. That’s why I have come to you because you are in the CEO’s office; unless you give me a new compressor and a person to fix my problem I am not leaving your office. My jeep is waiting downstairs.”

Sincethe Management team was in the meeting and I couldn’t disturb them, I had to take a decision for him because he was a customer. So, I called up a friend in the factory and asked him about this customer.

My friend knew the case and confirmed a compressor was available in stock. It was a Wednesday. Thursdays, the factory was closed because of load shedding; so I asked him if he could take the compressor and go with this customer. I told him I will arrange to compensate for his weekly off and asked him if he could go. He said yes I can but then who will make the gate pass? The authority to make the gate pass was only with the GM and above and all of them were in the meeting inside, so I took the decision to sign the gate pass myself. Thus, we shipped it and the customer went away. The meeting ended in the evening, The GM in-charge of

the factory came to know about this. He was furious. His point was, “How can you take this decision? It is beyond his authority. He is just an assistant in the CEO’s office. Now this customer will never pay for this, who is going to pay for this?” The equipment was worth some `2-3 lakh.

He came to my office and started shouting at me – how can you do this, this is insubordination, I am going to report this to the CEO, etc. I said please go ahead and report. I thought the customer’s need was genuine. He had gone through the entire hierarchy including you. Nobody responded to him that’s why he has come to our office. Go ahead talk to the CEO. I will deal with it, and if I have to pay the `2 lakhs I will pay, the customer’s plant should run.

The next day I was sitting with the CEO and the phone rang and it was the customer on the phone and he was thanking the CEO saying that the plant was running now. I came to your office you were busy but your office helped me and I wanted to thank you.

The CEO kept the phone down and asked me what this was all about? I told the CEO what happened. At that precise moment, the GM called up the CEO and said how can Vasu do this, this is not fair, your office is doing this, this is interference now you will expect that I should bill this customer and he will never pay. The CEO told him we did what was required to be done, now it’s your job to get the payment. Raise the invoice the customer will pay. The customer paid up. He was not unwilling to pay, his plant was down and that’s why he was upset.

This is your hands on experience. Lots of

books must have been written on the same theme, but your book is going to show your personal experience, your wife’s personal experience, you are sharing what you have seen, how you have handled it, why it is important...

How we felt and the main thing is how we would have handled it. I believe that this country can be a very great country if only we all decided not to break the law. If only we decided that we should make this country so great that others should feel like coming here rather than we feeling like going outside. And this is possible, and I am very happy that there are some things that this new government is doing that seem to be taking us in that direction. It is early days yet, they are all politicians anyway, but atleast the body language is right, the tone is right so we will see what happens. I am very hopeful that we will turn the corner now, but I am very kicked about doing something for the country, that’s what drives me.

(Vasu Ramanujam holds a B. Tech in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s Diploma in Industrial Engineering. A NTSE scholar of NCERT and a gold medallist in Mathematics, he is on the Advisory Board of EnterpriseForce, a Mumbai-based company involved in transportation optimisation services.)

Entercoms drives rapid time-to-value and lasting impact to the performance of service operations. Global clients engage Entercoms for its expertise in developing, designing and managing solutions to drive innovation, scale and profitability in increasingly complex service supply chains.

Cargo & Logistics I December 2014

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SPOTLIGHT

The Friendly Granary

A

t the outset, we must know that Stepan Plyushkin belongs to the other extreme. Belonging to an era of Great Depression and corrupt Imperial Russia, Stepan as a compulsive hoarder treats his acquaintance to a moldy cake which is a few years old brought to him by a visitor. As a character in the Nikolai Gogol’s famous satire called Dead Souls in 1842, Stepan draws out the amassing nature of people in his times.

In contrast to Stepan Plyushkin’s nature of compulsive hoarding, storing food grains to ensure food security to the current estimated 1.27 billion population of India is a collective responsibility. And this is precisely what brings us to the Warehousing Corporations across the country. The State Warehousing Corporations (SWCs) owe their birth to the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) of India which itself came into existence in 1957. It operates 467 warehouses across India with a total storage capacity of 10.3 million tonnes to store mainly grains, pulses, oil and oil seeds, spices, tea besides chemicals, fertilizers among others.

As my photographer and I walk in into the Karnataka State Warehousing Corporation in Mandya district, we are met by Swamy and Prakash – both farmers in their mid-30s – hailing from Kudragundi village in Mandya district about 12 kms from the

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Mandya warehouse. The two have been utilizing the facilities of the warehouse for some years now. Prakash says, “At the time of cultivation, we do not have the money for seeds and fertilizers, so we get a loan from the middlemen at 10 per cent and lose the money. Many farmers have committed suicide. But now after coming to the warehouse, we get to keep our stocks and get sufficient amounts of money from the bank so it improves agriculture.” Swamy chips in with a smile despite dark circles around his eyes, “That time it was only losses for us but now the banks charge a low interest at 3 per cent which is good for us. The receipt that the warehouse gives me, I take to the bank for a loan and that money I use for my next crop. When the rate is low I keep my stock here and when it is high, I sell the produce and make some profit. The stock is very safe here, no rats, insects.”

If Karnataka State Warehousing Corporation (KSWC) looks after 134 warehouses in the state with 17 lakh mt capacity and an average occupancy rate of 80 per cent at all times, the North Eastern Assam State Warehousing Corporation (ASWC) at the other end of the country has 43 centres in 19 districts to take care of. ASWC began with 8000 metric tonnes but is now functioning with a total capacity of 2.55 lakh mt at 69 per cent occupancy rate. Of all the SWCs in India, Maharashtra State Warehousing

ANANT NARASIMHAN

Raccard, Hambar, Hórreo, Treppenspeicher, Ghorfa, Sockenmagasin, Pitajanmakasiini, Lumbun, Silos – all these tongue-twisters mean store houses built to preserve food grains in different languages like in Swiss and Italian Alps, Turkey, Portugal, Germany, Arabia, Sweden, Finland, Indonesia, Mehrgarh in Indus Valley, Persia and Malta. This ancient phenomenon of warehousing, historians say, dates back to 9500 BC. If in ancient times, man struggled to keep grain as dry and as high as possible to keep moisture and rodents out, things have not changed much even today. The issue of warehousing has remained most crucial and topical around the world then and even now. In India it is in a nascent stage. Sarada Vishnubhatla in Bengaluru and Monalisa Borkakoty in Guwahati take a look at the fascinating world of storage warehousing in the Indian context.

ANANT NARASIMHAN

SPOTLIGHT

SAVING FOOD AND LIVES: The dome-shaped godowns in Mysore Unit-3 that Karnataka State Warehousing Corporation takes care of, built in mid-1980s; (above) the picture shows a godown built by L&T without pillars

Corporation (MSWC) tops the list with 191 warehouses in its state.

According to the National Food Security Act, food grains must be made available to people living below the poverty line at highly subsidised rates and in line with this are the warehousing corporations that also provide producer subsidies. KSWC’s Managing Director, M B Rajesh Gowda explains, “Food security commands timely supply of foodgrains and the quality of the foodgrain and the quantity that is being promised. This requires a chain of warehouses at various levels – sub-tehsil, taluk and district levels. There are two dimensions involved: one, to keep the buffer and distribute it to the PDS (Public Distribution System) and the other is to continuously incentivise the farmers to grow crops. So, we are looking at warehousing as a game changer in getting remunerative prices for farmers without the government’s intervention provided the warehouses become technology-driven, secular and transparent platforms for discovering the MSPs throughout the country since MSPs will keep rising along with the rise in the input costs.”

MSP or Minimum Selling Price announced by the Government of India ensures that the fall in price of foodgrains during harvest is bridged by buying out the stock from farmers so that they do not have to undergo distress sales by succumbing to middlemen.

K Eswaraiah, Chief General Manager, KSWC, explains further, “Normally, the procurement from farmers ends in the month of March. Under the amended APMC (Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee) Act, the farmer can store his produce and also sell it using both physical and virtual space online. Thus he can save money on transportation and handling. This way one farmer storing his stocks say in Arsikarai can sell to a purchaser sitting in Delhi.”

Gowda talks about the last kharif season where KSWC sold nearly seven lakh metric tonnes of maize procured from farmers on the NCDEX (National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited) electronic platform, “The end-users made their bid online and it was a perfect competitive situation. Even the government has realised that there is good money compared to different

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TRISHNA DB

SPOTLIGHT

TIMELY SUPPLY: The Managing Director of ASWC Hem Kanta Borah in a meeting with key officials of ASWC

types of tender. So, farmers can also do the same way. They can tell the warehouse that I have kept the produce at `1310 and if the price crosses `1500 you can sell the stocks.

So when the farmer sells the stocks, it will come through the bank where the bank will take its money and the remaining will go through RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) to the farmer.”

But at the district level it is quite difficult to discriminate the identity of the depositor, as the Warehouse Manager, Mandya KSWC, 56-year-old B Shivalingaiah shares, “Only when a person brings his patta rights of record pertaining to his land with particulars, we know he could be a farmer.

Since there is no photograph of the farmer we will not know if he is a middleman.” He scuttles away to see to the arrival of 500 mt of urea in trucks from Rashtriya Chemical & Fertilizers which was pre-booked to be stored at his godown. Of the four godowns that he takes care of, two are old which offer 10,000 mt and 3000 mt capacities while the two new dome-roofed ones offer 2000 and 3500 mt capacities.

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Given the scope of progress, ASWC records a slight dampener in its works. Hem Kant Borah, Managing Director – ASWC explains the downside, “ASWC must be brought under the Department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, otherwise we miss out on significant grants that are generally allotted to the department.

This is imperative for effective utilization of storage facilities for distribution of food grains particularly under the National Food Security Act to increase business volume and serve people better.”

All SWCs are on a different footing when it comes to adopting new and innovative methods to improve their functioning. Gowda shares from the recent meeting of the National Association of Warehousing Corporations held in Amritsar, “The Chairman of CWC, Dr C V Ananda Bose wishes for the best practices to be applied all across the SWCs in terms of upkeep of the stocks, economical construction of godowns. So, all these have to be worked out and two teams have been formed – Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, CWC

and I will look into these issues. Madhya Pradesh is doing well because they are using silos and their cost of upkeep is also less. So, basically at an MSP like maize is at eight lakh metric tonne or 5 lakh metric tonne, we can get 2-3 silos rather than having these bags.”

While Madhya Pradesh Warehouse Corporation is progressing towards utilizing silos to store its produce and Maharashtra is handling its processes using fully functional IT integration, currently Karnataka is close to full IT integration.

KSWC has introduced Rashtriya E-Market Services or REMS which ushers in Unified Market Platform (UMP). Says Gowda, “We are going ahead with a custom-based solution for our IT integration. One is the warehouse management software system at each warehouse so that it can be treated as a profit centre. Then the data can be monitored by the head office where the TRP has to be there. The other is the data at the warehouse has to move towards the unified market platform where trading will take place. Basically a unit is, a stack and the stack should

SPOTLIGHT

“Warehousing Corporations should be SPVs” M B Rajesh Gowda, Managing Director - KSWC believes that the warehousing capacity should be able to accommodate the rush in peak season What are the challenges in your work?

MSP is like a war field, it is like Tsunami.

There are say 300 trucks in front of our procurement agency and all of them would have lost their cool if infrastructure is not working. Getting a warehouse is a challenge, because sometimes private people know that we have exhausted our warehouses and they will not give warehouses… they will start demanding huge prices then we will ask the district magistrate to seize, to arrest people, we put everybody behind bars and take warehouses at reasonable costs.

If given a free hand what modern methods would you incorporate?

A conveyor system. After a certain height, the labourer cannot lift the bag, so if we have this machinery in place we can increase the capacity by another 25 per cent without any cost. IT integration can be the

the government treats the warehousing corporations as a SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle), because the corporations cannot take on the whole burden of the agrarian economy.

second area. The third area may be having CCTVs where people can monitor. Another thing is roping in collateral managers for many of our services like audit, inspections, or to maintain quality of foodgrain.

What kind of help would you look for from the state and central governments?

M B Rajesh Gowda

When we started, our equity was about `4 crores each with the central government, but now it’s high time that the state government also brings in equity to make it `100 crores. And if the central government also pitches in with `100 crores then our paid up capital becomes `200 crores. Going by the Warehousing Act 1961 we cannot take more than 15-20 times loan so that’s why we go for government guarantee. It’s high time that

You are always looking for space...

We try to accommodate.

If there are 10 people in the queue waiting to keep their stocks, and if only 4 or 5 get the space, and the other five do not then they will go for distress sales or sell it in the market. The warehousing capacity should accommodate in the peak season. In Karnataka the storage gap is about 25 lakh metric tonnes, so they need to finance, and that’s a big story by itself to create capacity.

reflect the quality and the quantity and all the details of the farmer are given, so if somebody wants to bid for that should be assured the same quality and the quantity is there.” The same, however, cannot be said for ASWC which is looking towards lifting up its sagging morale.

ASWC’s Borah is unhappy when he says, “Our accumulated losses amount to `1134 lakhs. We have long-pending dues from FCI (Food Corporation of India) and the government. When that gets paid to us and when our occupancy rate comes up to around 80 per cent, we can breathe easy.

We need new godowns and install cold chain supply management to remain competitive.” He laments, “For long the government has not shown any interest in revamping and supporting ASWC. And now the government has made a decision to start another state-owned warehouse, Assam Civil Supplies Corporation. With ASWC in existence, what is the need to start another one?”

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ANANT NARASIMHAN

SPOTLIGHT

STORED AND READY TO USE: Trucks outside the Mysore Unit-3, KSWC, gets ready for delivery

Samsuddin Ahmed, Manager – Commerce, ASWC, talks of future plans despite the odds that they are facing, “We would like to diversify into value-added services like packaging of tea and other commodities. We need to strengthen our handling and transportation methods and we wish to install electronic weighing facility in all our warehouses. Another important point is we wish to encourage all departments of Assam government to use our warehousing facilities to increase percentage of capacity utilization.”

ASWC conducts regular farmer awareness programmes. Ahmed says, “We educate them about the effectiveness of storing their produce with our godowns to lessen wastage. Their problems have also eased to a large extent with the WDRA (Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority) receipts.”

WDRA came into existence in 2007 to ensure best practices and uniform standards across the country. It ensures quality and quantity of the stored material. Eswaraiah talks about the difference, “Previous to WDRA and its negotiable receipts everything was haphazard. Now it is standard-

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December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

ized. There is no monopoly here. Secondly, loan is easily available because banks cannot refuse loans to farmers.”

Further, Gowda adds, “These receipts, at the time of the deposit, record information like moisture level, foreign material content level and infestation level in the produce brought to us. We improve the quality by following a protocol of fumigation, spraying, cleaning and aeration as per the requirement of the produce.” But only those SWCs can issue these negotiable receipts who have been accredited with the WDRA. M L Ashok Kumar, Warehouse Manager of KSWC’s Mysore Unit-3, takes care of eight warehouses with the help of four employees. Of these eight godowns, five are five years old that are built with domeshaped roofs while three were built in mid1980s. An agricultural graduate from Bangalore University, Kumar has undergone a series of training programmes like his seniors and others across all the warehouses in the country. “We learn different methods of storing like Cap Storage where the stock is stored in open air, Silos where the stored produce in the drums can be given prophy-

lactic and curative treatments. We do not have silos in Karnataka…they are there in Delhi.”

While adopting silos storage may be in the offing for some SWCs, a point close to his heart is raised by the 59-year-old Deputy Manager, S Lingaraju serving the Maddur warehouse of KSWC for the last threeand-a-half years, “There are advantages of using silos since they take less space, and have a low investment in construction while offering more storage but for me the big disadvantage is that the labour will go out of work.”

These trainings are held at the Indian Grain Storage Institutes in Hapur, Hyderabad and Delhi besides the Save Grain Campaign also at Hyderabad.

Training, upgradation of methods, full IT integration minus political agendas are what will help the Indian warehousing capabilities to grow into a sturdy sapling from the current seedling stage. Unlike Stepan Plyushkin, treating food grains as living and breathing beings is where its care begins so that it can nourish the humans and that is where warehousing as a concept plays the role of a friendly granary.

Branc

FOCUS

A look at

logistics of the future

A recent trend report from DHL highlights the key elements and significant potential of autonomous technologies in the logistics industry

L

eading logistics company DHL recently published the new trend report ‘Self-Driving Vehicles in Logistics’, highlighting the key elements and significant potential of autonomous technologies in the logistic industry.

The trend report is the latest in a series of reports developed by DHL Trend Research, a dedicated unit that focuses on researching, analyzing, and ultimately leveraging new trends in the logistics industry.

This trend was identified by DHL along with other developments in its annually updated

picking in warehouses Autonomous outdoor logistics like yard, harbor and airport operations • Assisted highway trucking and convoying in line-haul transportation • Last-mile delivery “Some warehouse operations have been using self-driving vehicles to some extent for years, but making driving in logistics more and more autonomous will change the logistics sector dramatically,” said Dr. Markus Kückelhaus, Director DHL Trend Research. “Moving onto public roads is the •

NEW LOGISTICS TREND: Outdoor logistics takes self-driving vehicles beyond the closed environment of traditional warehouse operations

GRAPHIC DHL

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‘Logistics Trend Radar’ – a document that assesses the impact of social and business trends as well as technology drivers in the logistics industry.

As a first step in the self-driving journey, the trend report contains various best-practice applications from different industries and also examines concrete use cases of self-driving vehicles across the entire logistics value chain. Applications for self-driving vehicles that are discussed in the report include: • Autonomous transport and assisted

December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

FOCUS

GRAPHIC DHL

SHAPING THE FUTURE: The typically complex environment for last-mile delivery

next evolutionary step. With its history in deploying self-driving solutions in controlled environments, the logistics industry is in a prime position to further shape the future of self-driving vehicles. Together with partners and customers, DHL can take a leading role on this path.”

Self-driving vehicles can provide a wide range of crucial benefits including improved road safety, greater fuel efficiency and reduced environmental impact. However, as the trend report explains, autonomous technologies still have some way to go before reaching full maturity. Considerable catching up is also required regarding regulations, public acceptance, and issues of liability.

Despite these barriers, some compelling use cases have already emerged, clearly indicating that many organizations are willing to develop and deploy self-driving technologies.

For public highways and urban streets, the ‘Self-Driving Vehicles in Logistics’ trend report anticipates: In the near future, enhancements to existing driver-assistance functions. Next, the introduction of autonomous driving in specific situations such as on congested highways. Further into the future, fully autonomous truck convoys on highways, 24/7.

“There is no doubt that autonomous driving will change the world of logistics,” added Matthias Heutger, Senior Vice Presi-

Unlike human drivers who sometimes cannot react fast enough to a sudden road hazard ahead, driving assistants or self-driving vehicles will be programmed for constant vigilance and safety

dent Strategy, Marketing & Innovation, DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation. “DHL is already applying many solutions for autonomous logistics in warehouse operations and we see ourselves in a prime position to further drive the trend of self-driving vehicles in our industry.”

Unlike human drivers who sometimes cannot react fast enough to a sudden road hazard ahead, driving assistants or self-driving vehicles will be programmed for constant vigilance and safety. In addition, these systems can find the swiftest route to avoid traffic congestion, reduce motoring costs, and minimize environmental impact, achieving an overall experience that’s safer and greener for everyone.

The trend report examines the distance that needs to be covered before self-driving

technology reaches full maturity, and addresses the challenges of regulations, public acceptance, and issues of liability. It also shines the headlights on various best-practice applications across several industries today, and takes a detailed look into the existing technology that’s successfully used today as well as some future applications for self-driving vehicles in the logistics industry.

Logistics, in fact, provides some of the most ideal working environments for self-driving vehicles. Examples include warehouses and other private and secure indoor locations where goods (not people) are loaded and transported, and relatively isolated and remote outdoor locations where harsh conditions and long hours can put human drivers at risk.

It’s no surprise then that the logistics industry has been deploying self-driving vehicles for several years, and is adopting advances in self-driving technology more rapidly than many other industries. The report focuses on current and future implications of driverless vehicles in the logistics industry.

There is a strong case for suggesting that the logistics industry will adopt self-driving vehicles much faster than most other industries.

The reason for this is that different rules apply when a vehicle is moving around in a secure, private zone. Also, liability issues are less pressing when that vehicle is transporting goods instead of people. These conditions are typical of many logistics applications – for example, vehicles often move materials in private warehouses and controlled open-air sites. Already today there are numerous applications of autonomous technology in logistics, providing further evidence that driverless vehicles are safe and successful in closed environments.

It’s the next evolutionary step to start applying this technology to outside premises and on public streets. Beyond warehousing operations, analysts expect many more applications in future along the entire supply chain, particularly in outdoor logistics operations, line haul transportation, and last-mile delivery.

The report provides a possible roadmap for this evolution – it starts with indoor and outdoor solutions that are being applied today, and travels on towards some visionary concepts for the future of logistics.

Cargo & Logistics I December 2014

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PANORAMA

RECORD BREAKING CARGO

TRAIN China recently launched a cargo train which took 21 days to travel 13,052 kilometers.

It passed through six other countries as it moved goods from the industrial city of Yiwu to the Spanish capital of Madrid.

The train, named ‘Yixinou’, left Yiwu, 300 km south of Shanghai, and crossed Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France before arriving in Spain on December 9, 2014. On the route to Madrid, Yiximou carried a total of 40 carriages, 30 of which arrived in Spain, and transported a massive 1,400 tons of merchandise, including many products for the Christmas market. The train will soon be returning to China brimming with an array of Spanish products, including cured ham, olive oil and wine.

The total distance covered by the new rail route was much longer than that of the world's longest train service, the 9,259-km Moscow-Vladivostok Rossinya 002, and five times as long as the route of the famous Orient Express. The 13,052 kilometers between Madrid and Yiwu is a greater distance than that between the North and South Pole, although the distance was not covered using the same crew, nor the same engine. However, unlike the Russian line, goods on the Yixinou had to be transferred to different wagons at three points during the trip because of incompatible track gauges in different countries. The engine was changed approximately every 800 kilometers, while the crew changed with each country the train traversed.

Meanwhile special stops were necessary at the frontier cities of Dostyk (Kazakhstan), Brest (Belarus) and Irun (Spain) in order to deal with the different railway gauges encountered along the route.

Yiwu is the biggest wholesale hub in the world and Chinese authorities wanted to connect it by rail to Europe, one of the city's biggest markets. The new railway route will reduce dependence on sea and air cargo transport. The new freight track has been made possible with the help of Trans Eurasia Logistics, a joint venture between the public rail operators in Germany and Russia.

MADRID SPAIN

FRANCE

POLAND

GERMANY

BELARUS

KAZAKHSTAN

RUSSIA

YIWU CHINA

TEXT: CHARCHIT SINGH GRAPHIC: NAGENDER DUBEY

At the moment, the running of the rail train is expensive, but authorities say that as trade expands, its costs will fall. The train will pull 82 cargo wagons and a test route run at the beginning of the year, which ended in Central Asia, brought in an extra $39 million in trade for the Yiwu region. China is the world leader in long distance and high speed train travel.

It has built the world's longest bullet train network covering more than 6,000 miles (9,650 km) of intercity connections, including the world's longest high-speed link between Beijing and Guangzhou, a distance of 1,428 miles (2,300 km).

NEWS IN BRIEF

AIR 

No more lithium as air freight

AFS IN CHENNAI STARTS OPERATIONS

T

Air Freight Station (AFS) in Chennai has started its operations. The idea for such

a facility was conceptualised seven years ago. Hyderabad Menzies Air Cargo Pvt. Ltd, a joint venture company between GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited and London-based Menzies Aviation Plc, has started the AFS in association with Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), which was one of the first companies to get an AFS licence. Now with the start of AFS facility, Hyderabad airport will extend services to its airline customers by expanding their hinterland to Chennai enabling local trade members to route their shipment through the Hyderabad airport.

Chennai is the second location after Nagpur for Hyderabad Menzies to start the AFS service, sources said to a daily.

SCHIPHOL CONFERENCE LOOKS AT THEORY AND PRACTICE

A recent conference on Good Distribution Practice (GDP) in the Aviation Industry, held at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, underscored the importance of data integrity for quality managers, highlighted the lack of data quality at some airports and concluded that correct bookings, comprehensive checking of shipments at export acceptance, and performance

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December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

he International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published the first edition of its Lithium Battery Risk Mitigation Guidance for Operators, a free online guide designed to outline potential strategies both cargo and passenger airlines may wish to consider when transporting lithium batteries.

“Lithium batteries are safe to transport provided that they are designed, tested, manufactured and packaged in accordance with the global transport safety standards. Developed with the input of leading industry groups specialized in the area of handling potentially dangerous goods, the Lithium Battery Risk Mitigation Guidance for Operators represents an invaluable source of reference,” said Kevin Hiatt, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Safety and Flight Operations.

The guide notes that upwards of one billion lithium batteries are transported by air as mail, cargo or in passenger/ crew baggage annually, which constitutes a safety hazard that must be managed in a clear and comprehensive manner. Volumes are expected to increase substantially over the coming years, with batteries becoming smaller and even more powerful. IATA estimates that, on some routes, lithium batteries are present in at least 25 per cent of cargo shipments; but this figure only takes into account batteries that are known to be transported (i.e., those that have been declared to the operator).

The IATA’s guide also points to three well-known cargo aircraft fires: 1) The February 2006 incident in which a United Parcel Service (UPS) DC-8 freighter landed at Philadelphia International Airport on fire. During the descent, a fire broke out that substantially damaged the aircraft; the two pilots survived but were treated for smoke inhalation.

2) The UPS 747-400F that crashed 50 minutes after takeoff from Dubai International Airport in September 2010 after attempting to return to the airport following its pilots reporting “smoke in the cockpit” owing to a main deck fire. Both pilots were killed.

3) The Asiana Airlines 747-400F that

crashed off the coast of South Korea in the East China Sea after the pilots reported an inflight fire, killing both pilots and destroying the aircraft.

UPS has been working on freighter aircraft fire mitigation technologies and procedures since the Dubai crash. In 2010, FAA issued a safety alert on lithium batteries carried as air cargo. Lithium metal batteries transported as cargo will be restricted to cargo aircraft only from January 1, 2015. The prohibition on the carriage on passenger aircraft only applies to lithium metal batteries when shipped by themselves, and does not apply to batteries packed with equipment or contained in equipment.

Finnair to end long-haul freighter flights

F

innair Cargo has made the tough decision to end all long haul freighter flights. Currently, all-cargo carrier Nordic Global Airlines, which is 40 per cent owned by Finnair, operates a fleet of four MD-11s, two of which are from Finnair Cargo. The MD-11s, which serve Hong Kong, New York, Hanoi and various African destinations from hubs in Helsinki and Liège, Belgium, will be phased out by the end of December, according to Finnair.

“This was a difficult decision to make, and we played out quite a few scenarios internally,” Mikko Turtiainen, Finnair Cargo’s Vice President Global Sales said. “Finnair Cargo does not see long-haul freighter operations with an MD-11 as a sustainable solution in today’s market,” he added.

NEWS IN BRIEF

ANA-Lufthansa Cargo in JV

A

ll Nippon Airways (ANA) and Lufthansa Cargo launched an innovative air cargo Joint Venture (JV) on Japan-Europe routes.

Since December 1, 2014, both airlines have commenced joint sales of shipments on flights from Japan to Europe. On December 2, 2014, the first shipment sent by forwarder Schenker-Seino Co. Ltd and booked via Lufthansa Cargo was transported by ANA on flight number NH 277 from Tokyo to London.

It consisted of three pieces of general cargo and weighed 153 kilograms. Due to the direct flight of ANA between the two cities, the customer was now able to take receipt of his shipment approximately 16 hours earlier than by choosing the transfer connection via Frankfurt. On the same

day the Lufthansa Cargo freighter flight LH 8385 carried the first shipment booked through ANA. The load weighed 1.8 tonnes. By accessing cargo capacities on freighter aircraft, it is now possible for ANA customers to send big volume freight and cargo that may only be transported on freighters, directly from Tokyo to Frankfurt.

The joint venture benefits customers by providing a larger and faster network with more direct flights, more destinations and more frequencies. By moving under one roof at major stations, such as the airports Narita and Nagoya in Japan and Dusseldorf and Frankfurt in Germany, customers can enjoy the services of both airlines at a single location.

Qatar Cargo adds three new destinations

Q

atar Airways Cargo has commenced operations to three new freighter destinations — Lagos, Accra and Guangzhou — with all three routes being served by the Airbus A330 freighter. Freighters to Lagos and Accra commenced on December 6, 2014. The twice weekly freighter service operates from Doha to Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and then onward to Accra’s Kotoka International Airport, with a scheduled stop in Europe before returning to Doha. In addition, thrice-weekly direct freighters to Guangzhou commenced on December 3, 2014.

Ulrich Ogiermann, Qatar Airways Chief Officer Cargo said: “There is clearly huge potential in the West African states of Nigeria and Ghana as well as China.

Our focus is to improve connectivity and provide a growing network of destinations and quality operations to our customers.

With the introduction of scheduled freighter services to Lagos, Accra and Guangzhou, Qatar Airways Cargo will be able to provide air transportation services to even more industries worldwide on our growing network of more than 140 destinations.”

AIR  measurement are all essential in the pharma supply chain. Schiphol Cargo hosted the conference, in close cooperation with DARQA (Dutch Association of Research Quality Assurance Professionals) and Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo’s Product Market Group Pharmaceutical Logistics. It was attended by high-ranking delegates from DARQA, IATA, the Dutch Healthcare Inspectorate, Dutch Customs, pharmaceutical shippers, Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo and Schiphol Cargo.

The event examined GDP Guidelines both in theory and practice, highlighting anomalies such as the lack of a clear definition of storage, and the fact that the Healthcare Inspectorate is only responsible for inspection of parties holding a wholesale-license, so airlines and airports are not subject to its scrutiny.

RECORD NOVEMBER FOR CARGOLUX Cargolux has achieved an all-time record performance in block hours, cycles and tonnage during November 2014. Block hours have exceeded 10,000 hours a

month for the first time in the company’s history and reached 10,224 hours, 8.7 per cent higher than in November 2013. The Cargolux fleet of 22 747-8F and 747-400F flew 1,766 cycles, another all-time high for the airline. During November, Cargolux carried 76,504 tons of freight, again more than in any other month in its history and 3.1 per cent higher than November 2013.

For the 11 months to November 2014, Cargolux grew its tonnage by 10.5 per cent against the same period in 2013.

The airline also recorded a continuously high daily aircraft utilisation rate at 15.52 hours per day for its fleet.

Cargo & Logistics I December 2014

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NEWS IN BRIEF

SHIPPING AND PORTS  NEW COMPANY FOR LAST-MILE CONNECTIVITY A dozen Indian ports will set up a new company to strengthen the port connectivity work. The Union government is set to clear a proposal for creation of a Port Infrastructure Vikas Nigam Ltd. The company will construct, operate and maintain rail and road infrastructure to facilitate connectivity for transportation of goods from ports in India or abroad. The Union shipping ministry is in the process of seeking Cabinet approval for this.

The company’s paid-up capital will be `50 crore, with equity participation from the 12 major port trusts. The authorised share capital will be around `100 crore, divided into a million equity shares of `1,000 each. Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd, under the administrative control of Indian Railways, will undertake project development and carry out other engineering works. Last-mile connectivity implies linking the ports to the rail network, to move cargo.

JNPT TO TAKE EQUITY IN IRAN PORT PROJECT

Major Ports showing improved performance

“P

erformance of the Major Ports has improved over the years in terms of key performance indicators like average turnaround time, average pre-berthing detention and average output per ship per berth day,” said Minister of State for Shipping, Pon Radhakrishnan in the Lok Sabha recently.

The government has taken a number of measures to improve the efficiency of Major Ports, which include construction

of new berths and terminals to enhance port capacity to minimise pre-berthing detention time and reduce turnaround time of vessels, modernising berths with state-of-art loading/unloading equipment to improve operational efficiency, deepening channels and berths so that ports can accommodate larger vessels and improving rail/road connectivity of ports for speedy evacuation of cargo, the Minister added.

Cochin Port to reduce dwell time

C Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is likely to take 60 per cent equity in the Indian company formed for developing the chabahar port in South Eastern Iran.

Kandla Port Trust (KPT) would hold the remaining equity. The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is likely to be named Indian Ports Global. The formation and registration are likely to be completed this month. The chairmen of JNPT and KPT, with a nominated Director from the Union Shipping Ministry, would be part

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December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

ochin Port has organised a meeting to analayse the existing free period given to the trade at International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT), Vallarpadam. According to a Cochin Port Trust release, the decision came in the wake of the long dwell time (time taken for movement of import cargo from the point of arrival of vessel to grant of ‘outof-charge’ by Customs) for containers to be cleared from the ICTT. Average dwell time for import cargo at Cochin is 15.36 days, which is much longer than the other Indian ports. An analysis by Cochin Customs has revealed that the major part of the time is taken for filing the Bill of Entry (B/E) on behalf of the importer.

On its part, Customs has initiated measures to ensure that the entire time

taken by it in filing of B/E to its assessment and registration of the B/E to ‘outof-charge’ is brought down to within two days by March 2015. The reduction in dwell time for clearance from the ICTT will go a long way in bringing down the time for physical receipt of import goods by the consignee and also, to a great extent, lead to lower costs by avoiding the chances of demurrage and other detention costs, the release pointed out.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Mundra Port handles largest bulk carrier

A

dani Ports & SEZ Ltd announced that its Mundra Port successfully berthed the largest bulk carrier to call at any port on the west coast of India, thereby making history in the Indian maritime sector. MV Orange Phoenix, a Panama-registered vessel, with overall length of 299 metres and draught 16.7 m, was berthed at Mundra Port’s West Basin Coal Terminal on December 2, 2014 by the port’s marine team. The vessel has a dead weight tonnage (DWT) of 207,529 tons and has brought 179,741 tonnes of Indonesian coal.

Mundra Port is designed to handle bulk vessels up to 250,000 DWT. These vessels have not been built as yet but are

aersk Line has announced the launch of a new direct service, MESAWA, from Jebel Ali, Mundra and Nhava Sheva to South and West Africa. The new service will be effective from January 24, 2015. The Maersk Line-operated weekly service will deploy ten 3,500-TEU vessels and have the following port rotation: Jebel Ali, Mundra, Nhava Sheva, Durban, Luanda, Apapa, Tincan, Cotonou, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Port Louis and Jebel Ali. According to a release, the service will be a stable and reliable product with expected high schedule reliability. It will significantly improve transit times from India into South Africa. There will be a 14-day improvement in transit time from Nhava Sheva to Durban and Mozambique.

of the company’s Board of Directors.

After the SPV formation, a memorandum of understanding between the governments of India and Iran would be signed in early 2015. Chabahar would be India’s first foreign port project.

INDIA TO INCREASE ITS SHARE IN TOTAL FREIGHT

on the drawing board. However, Mundra Port has always been proactive, and hence has already designed the berth to handle these vessels, to be built and operated by the worldwide trading community, emphasised a release.

Maersk Line’s introduces new services

M

SHIPPING AND PORTS 

The Maritime Agenda 2010-20 has set an ambitious target of achieving 43 million gross owned and controlled tonnage under the Indian flag by 2020, the aim being to increase India’s share in total freight, according to the Ministry of Shipping. It said in a release that the Indian National Shipowners’ Association (INSA) has informed that the total sea freight paid by India was about $ 50 billion in the financial year 2014, with around 90 per cent of the trade carried on board foreign flag vessels. The Indian tonnage stood at 10.31 MT as on November 30, 2014.

The Ministry has impressed upon user government departments/public sector undertakings, including oil marketing companies, to provide cargo support to Indian shipping companies through long-term contracts, the release stressed.

INDIAN PORT SEEKS HELP FROM DUBAI

MAJOR PORTS TO UPGRADE SOFTWARES

Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) — the nodal agency for port and port-related developments in Gujarat — is seeking help from two foreign agencies from Norway and Dubai. “We will be signing two co-operation agreements with Maritime Forum of Norway and Institute of Chartered Ship Brokers, Dubai branch, at an event recently. These agreements are meant to help us develop a maritime cluster in the state, similar to the ones that exist at Rotterdam, Singapore and Hongkong. A formal proposal for the development of this cluster has also been sent to Chief Minister Anandi Patel,” said an official of the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB).

Shipping ministry is in the process of upgrading the software of the of the existing port system to achieve seamless connectivity between different points.

Each port is upgrading its existing software for implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, Pon Radhakrishnan, Minister of State for Shipping informed Lok Sabha.

Visakhapatnam, V.O. Chidambaranar Port, New Mangalore and Mormugao ports have already implemented the ERP system, while the rest are in the process of implementation. To achieve seamless connectivity between different points, a Port Community System (PCS) is in place at the Major Ports.

Cargo & Logistics I December 2014

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rt

NEWS IN BRIEF

LAND  DB SCHENKER OPENS NEW OFFICES IN GUJARAT DB Schenker has opened new offices at Vapi in West India. The cities are strategically located near the west coast of India and host several small and medium scale manufacturing industries. The new office was inaugurated by Reiner A. Allgeier, Managing Director along with Shubhendu Das, Chief Operating Officer, Schenker India Pvt. Ltd. DB Schenker offices are now in 37 locations with more than 44 offices in India. The western region is one of the biggest regions for DB Schenker in India where it operates in 11 cities. The offices will serve the industrial belts in Vapi city and nearby areas in the state of Gujarat. The state has the densest network of DB Schenker offices which include Ahmedabad, Baroda, Gandhidham and now Vapi.

“The new offices in region west India will be instrumental in strengthening our network and make us more accessible for customers in the region. We recognise the importance of the SME market in the West and want to extend our world class service offerings to them,” said Allgeier.

USD 1.1 BILLION FOR EASTERN RAILWAY FREIGHT CORRIDOR The World Bank signed an agreement to lend $1.1 billion to build the eastern dedicated railway freight corridor.

“The project will help increase the capacity of these freight-only lines by raising the axle-load limit from 22.9 to 25 tonnes and enable speeds of up to 100 kilometer (km) per hour. It will also help develop the institutional capacity of the DFCCIL (Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporations of India Limited) to build and maintain the DFC (dedicated freight corridor) infrastructure network,” the Bank said.

The agreement is the second after the first loan of $975 million for the 343-km Khurja-Kanpur section for a project that was approved by the World Bank in May 2011. The eastern freight corridor is 1,839 km long and

36

December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

FedEx as logistics partner of IPTL

State gov. to give environment clearance for roads

F

T

edEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. announced its association with the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) presented by Qatar Airways, as the Official Logistics Partner. The Coca-Cola IPTL presented by Qatar Airways is a professional team tennis competition founded by multiple grand-slam winner India’s Mahesh Bhupathi, featuring the best current and past champions and played across four countries in Asia.

The League was held at Manila, Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai between November 28, 2014 and December 13, 2014.

The Coca-Cola IPTL presented by Qatar Airways showcased iconic tennis players like Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic in these countries.

o avoid the delay in the road projects along the borders due to environmental clearances Ministry of Road Transport and Highways wants the State Governments to come forward and do the needful. “If the government wants, it can provide such an exemption,” a senior ministry official said to a daily, pointing out that the previous BJP-led NDA government had relaxed the norms for roads within 100 km of the international border. The highways ministry has written to the ministry of environment to consider this request for all its projects in states, including Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Punjab and Gujarat, among others.

“Right now all requests are landing

India rail postpones container rate hike

P

reviously announced container rail increases will be postponed, providing a temporary respite for shippers struggling with port congestion and rising transportation costs, India’s Ministry of Railways said. Under intense pressure from local trade and port user groups, particularly the

Mumbai and Nhava Sheva Ship Agents’ Association (MANSA), the increase will be implemented in two stages beginning December 15, 2014.

“The matter has been reviewed and it has been decided to revise the rates of haulage charges recoverable for the movement of containers in two phases, effective on December 15, 2014 and on March 1, 2015,” the ministry said. The rollback would effectively mean increased haulage rates coming down by about 30 percent until end-February, according to industry sources.

NEWS IN BRIEF

India Post launches tracking service

I

up in Delhi, resulting in delays. We want that regional officers should be delegated powers to give such clearances,” said the official. Although there are two broad categories of projects under the Environment Protection Act, requiring clearance from either the Centre or the state depending on size and scale, all highway projects have to get the green nod from the Centre.

FPS member sets up in Myanmar

F

PS Logistics Thailand (FPST) announced the launch of a new logistics operation in neighbouring Myanmar that aims to help the country of 65 million inhabitants build its infrastructure, as the first step towards becoming a major exporter. In the next two years, the new company’s main focus will be major projects and heavylift cargo employed in the development of infrastructure and manufacturing, as well as handling inbound consumer goods. It will provide complete logistics solutions spanning international multi-modal transport, customs formalities, warehousing and inland transport.

In addition, Leo Myanmar will enter the major cross-border trucking trade between Thailand and Myanmar and aims to become a leader in providing international-standard door-to-door services between the two countries, release added.

ndia Post launched a new service in Vijaywada called ‘Nanyatha’ to track movement of inland letters in any post box identified by the department, until its delivery. Chief Post Master General of Andhra Pradesh Circle B V Sudhakar said that the service would enable people to track their letters after they are into a post box through a website. It provides details about the location of a post box, the person who cleared letters from the post box, its flow and also the time and date of delivery. He said that the service, which is available for 173 post boxes in city out of 183 post boxes, is already in progress in Hyderabad.

DHL to launch Innovation Centre in Singapore

D

eutsche Post DHL is to open an Asia Pacific innovation centre in Singapore next year to pioneer sustainable solutions to keep world trade on the move. With an initial investment of S$10 million, the Asia Pacific Innovation Centre (APIC) in Singapore will be the first centre for innovative logistics services and solutions in the region, company’s press release said. Due to be launched in the third quarter of 2015, the APIC is a partnership with Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB) and will be DHL’s second innovation centre in the world. DHL’s main Innovation centre is located in Troisdorf, Germany.

Kelvin Wong, Assistant Managing Director, Singapore Economic Development Board said, “Singapore is proud to be home to DHL’s first Innovation Centre outside of Germany. DHL’s experience with innovation and solution development will enhance Singapore’s position as the leading logistics hub in Asia . With the establishment of the centre, businesses can look forward to cutting edge solutions targeted at harnessing short and long-term supply chain opportunities,” he added.

LAND  extends from Ludhiana to Kolkata. India is building two freight corridors, in the east and the west, which will help the country increase its railway transportation capacity by building higher-speed dedicated freight corridors.

RAILWAYS OFFERS PROJECTS UNDER FDI The Railways has opened up infrastructure projects worth over `90,000 crore for foreign direct investment (FDI). The largest of these is the 534-km Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed corridor, estimated to cost `63,000 crore and to be built under the design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) model.

Among the other key projects are the `14,000-crore CST-Panvel suburban corridor under PPP mode, the `1,200-crore Kachrapara rail coach factory modernisation, besides multiple freight lines and electrification and signaling projects.

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu had said the ministry would put in place an “investor-friendly framework to transform the national transporter into an efficient organisation, attract investment on a long-term sustainable basis and in three years make the railways better than what it is today”.

RHENUS LOGISTICS TO TRANSPORT FUEL Rhenus Logistics India, the Indian arm of the global Rhenus Group, has announced signing an agreement with Shell India. As part of this agreement, Rhenus Logistics will deploy a fleet of specialised tankers for the transportation of fuel for Shell India. With this, Rhenus Logistics India has stepped into transportation of automobile fuels, adding to its expertise in the area of transportation of lubricants and petrochemicals in India.

In this direction, it has invested in procuring and customising the fleet of 35 tankers, which will transport fuel for Shell India, starting in the state of Karnataka.

The new fleet is equipped with ABS-fitted disc brakes, three point inertia seatbelts, in-cabin climate control, 2×10 DCP fire extinguishers, GPS among others.

Cargo & Logistics I December 2014

37

NEWS IN BRIEF

INFRASTRUCTURE  TIRUCHI CARGO TERMINAL TO HAVE ROOF The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has granted approval for erecting the canopy in front of the air cargo terminal at Tiruchirapalli International airport. The demand for the establishment of a canopy was raised by exporters. With the sanction for a canopy having come through, the Tiruchi airport authorities have floated a tender to award the contract for this facility. Airport authorities want to complete the canopy work as quickly as possible to help the exporters.

The AAI southern regional headquarters had accorded sanction based on a proposal sent by the airport authorities following long-pending demand from the exporters, airport sources said.

JNPT TO BUILD SEZ

Logistics hub at Bawal in Haryana

T

he Haryana Government has decided to develop a 1,200 acre Integrated Multi-Modal Logistic Hub (IMLH) as part of the prestigious Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project. It will be developed adjoining the Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor near IMT Bawal. The Government has also decided to expand the Industrial Model Township at Bawal over an area of 2400 acres. Bawal, 70 km from Gurgaon, is being developed as an industrial belt along the Delhi-Jaipur national highway (NH-8).

The scheme was part of a larger plan according to which Manesar Bawal Investment Region will be promoted to generate `42 billion worth of industrial output by 2040, thereby contributing 25 per cent of State GDP. The project is also likely to generate 1.6 million jobs by then.

The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) is to build SEZ on 2,077 hectares near the port which is expected to attract `3,000 crore of private investment and create close to 1.5 lakh jobs in the area.

Speaking at the CII International Logistics Summit in Mumbai, NN Kumar, Chairman, JNPT, said that other initiatives included doubling of the 44 kilometer (km) road network to the port to eight lanes from four lanes, building a multimodal logistics park on 100 hectares to facilitate movement of goods to ports, and tying up with APEC to setup a training centre at the port.

AWARD

DHL DHL was announced the winner in the Energy Management category at the 2014 Sustainable Business Awards Singapore ceremony. DHL was lauded for championing its group-wide environmental protection program GoGreen. The main focus of GoGreen is to minimize the group-business operations’ greatest impact on the environment — CO2 emissions.

DHL was also crowned “Global 3PL of the Year” and “Air Freight Forwarder of the Year” at the 2014 Supply Chain Asia Awards. Now in its 13th year, this annual awards program, organised by industry association Supply Chain Asia, recognises the achievements and contributions of corporations and individuals across the supply chain and logistics industry.

Blue Dart Blue Dart Express Ltd. was named ‘Regional Express Operator of the Year’ at the Payload Asia Awards 2014. For the second consecutive year, Payload Asia readers voted Blue Dart top from a shortlist compiled by a panel of experts.

Saudia Cargo

Awards Nite in Delhi

S

audi Airlines Cargo organised an event to honour its top agents on December 9, 2014 at Delhi.

The event was a classy, select gathering with everybody present known to each other and interacting with warmth and bonhomie. It was a true PR event with awards and gifts given to most of the invitees.

Keku Gazder, head of SV Cargo in In-

38

December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

dia, was the gracious host and Vandana Singh of ECS, SV Cargo’s GSSA, was on her toes to ensure that every guest was

taken care of. The event was a precursor to their forthcoming larger programme, scheduled at Mumbai.

STATS

TRAFFIC PORTS TRAFFICHANDLED HANDLEDAT AT MAJOR MAJOR PORTS (DURING APRIL TO NOVEMBER, 2014* VIS-A-VIS APRIL TO NOVEMBER, 2013)

(*) TENTATIVE

(IN ' 000 TONNES)

PORTS

APRIL TO NOVEMBER

% VARIATION

TRAFFIC

AGAINST PREV.

2014* 2

1 KOLKATA Kolkata Dock System

2013 3

YEAR TRAFFIC 4

9045

8181

10.56

Haldia Dock Complex

19115

19265

TOTAL: KOLKATA

28160

27446

-0.78 2.60

PARADIP

47308

44435

6.47

VISAKHAPATNAM

38938

37577

3.62

KAMARAJAR (ENNORE)

19896

17149

16.02

CHENNAI

35462

34003

4.29

V.O. CHIDAMBARANAR

20836

18886

10.33

COCHIN

14589

14330

1.81

NEW MANGALORE

24383

25719

-5.19

9044

7403

22.17

MUMBAI

40647

38221

6.35

JNPT

42739

40425

5.72

KANDLA

62584

59519

5.15

384586

365113

5.33

MORMUGAO

TOTAL:

Source:INDIAN PORTS ASSOCIATION

Cargo and Logistics

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STATS

INDIAN PORTS ASSOCIATION

TRAFFIC HANDLED AT MAJOR PORTS TRAFFIC HANDLED AT MAJOR PORTS

DURING TO OCTOBER’2014* VIS-A-VIS APRIL TO OCTOBER’2013 (DURINGAPRIL APRIL TO NOVEMBER'2014* VIS-A-VIS APRIL TO NOVEMBER'2013) (*)

TENTATIVE

PORT

(IN '000 TONNES) TRAFFIC PERIOD

P.O.L.

IRON ORE

FERTILIZER FIN. RAW

COAL CONTAINER THERMAL COKING TONNAGE TEUs

OTHER CARGO

TOTAL

% VAR. AGAINST 2013-14

KOLKATA TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

364

50

69

-

-

16

5320

345

3226

9045

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

431

104

4

-

-

206

4734

306

2702

8181

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

3631

1457

182

323

761

3550

1217

73

7994

19115

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

3873

1465

156

214

1072

3742

1486

78

7257

19265

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

3995

1507

251

323

761

3566

6537

418 11220

28160

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

4304

1569

160

214

1072

3948

6220

384

9959

27446

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

11640

1288

51

2967

19628

5101

36

2

6597

47308

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

11818

3502

74

2483

16470

4619

52

5

5417

44435

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

9790

6043

1213

575

1533

3506

2991

179 13287

38938

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

8935

8031

1424

512

1952

4511

3301

175

8911

37577

KAMARAJAR(ENNORE) TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

2099

-

-

-

15889

212

-

-

1696

19896

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

1369

-

-

-

13983

240

-

-

1557

17149

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

8540

-

149

255

-

-

20182

1046

6336

35462

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

8701

27

106

178

-

-

19147

992

5844

34003

V.O.CHIDAMBARANAR TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

401

-

349

688

5603

-

7106

362

6689

20836

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

332

-

307

449

4302

-

6507

328

6989

18886

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

9526

-

54

268

98

-

3567

246

1076

14589

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

9954

-

36

124

-

-

3277

239

939

14330

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

14912

1229

515

37

1688

3951

621

42

1430

24383

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

16320

1892

372

50

1787

3539

481

33

1278

25719

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

373

353

135

-

708

4527

169

17

2779

9044

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

347

-

93

-

-

4951

143

14

1869

7403

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

24056

-

110

182

3165

-

358

31 12776

40647

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

23432

-

98

71

2781

-

278

26 11561

38221

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

2684

-

-

-

-

-

38200

2966

1855

42739

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

3148

-

-

-

-

-

35487

2676

1790

40425

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014

37229

550

2729

544

6753

132

-

- 14647

62584

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013

34910

473

2087

613

5157

199

452

29 15628

59519

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2014 125245

10970

5556

5839

55826

20995

79767

5309 80388 384586

TRF APRIL-NOV.'2013 123570

15494

4757

4694

47504

22007

75345

4901 71742 365113

1.36 -29.20

16.80

24.39

17.52

-4.60

5.87

Kolkata Dock System

Haldia Dock Complex TOTAL: KOLKATA

PARADIP

VISAKHAPATNAM

CHENNAI

COCHIN

NEW MANGALORE

MORMUGAO

MUMBAI

J.N.P.T.

KANDLA

ALL PORTS

% Variation from previous year

8.32

12.05

10.56

-0.78

2.60

6.47

3.62

16.02

4.29

10.33

1.81

-5.19

22.17

6.35

5.72

5.15

5.33

5.33

Source:INDIAN PORTS ASSOCIATION

40

December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

STATS

INTERNATIONAL FREIGHT INTERNATIONAL FREIGHT AIRPORT

SL. NO.

OCTOBER 2014

ANNEXURE-IVA

FREIGHT (IN TONNES) For the period April - October % % 2014-15 2013-14 Change Change

For the month OCTOBER 2013

(A) 18 INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS 1

CHENNAI

18093

19459

-7.0

133388

131956

1.1

2

KOLKATA

3667

3873

-5.3

28185

26543

6.2

3

AHMEDABAD

1690

1418

19.2

10423

9568

8.9 -34.2

4

GOA

110

138

-20.3

696

1058

5

TRIVANDRUM

2048

1914

7.0

16246

15943

1.9

6

CALICUT

1979

1805

9.6

12776

13810

-7.5

7

LUCKNOW

106

88

20.5

804

643

25.0

8

GUWAHATI

1

0

-

11

9

22.2

9

SRINAGAR

0

0

-

0

0

-

10

JAIPUR

63

17

270.6

341

130

162.3

11

BHUBANESWAR

0

0

-

0

0

1300.0

12

MANGALORE

30

10

200.0

154

11

13

COIMBATORE

74

99

-25.3

529

554

-4.5

14

AMRITSAR

39

560

-93.0

270

1258

-78.5

15

TRICHY

390

440

-11.4

2719

2753

-1.2

16

VARANASI

0

0

-

0

0

-

17

PORTBLAIR

0

0

0

0

18

IMPHAL

0 28290

0 29821

-

0 206542

0 204236

1.1

TOTAL

-5.1

(B) 6 JV INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS 19

DELHI (DIAL)

34313

34562

-0.7

252695

226938

11.3

20

MUMBAI (MIAL)

39504

40538

-2.6

280078

271754

3.1

21

BANGALORE (BIAL)

13916

11899

17.0

97905

88365

10.8

22

HYDERABAD (GHIAL)

4276

3704

15.4

31779

28350

12.1

23

COCHIN(CIAL)

6155

3157

95.0

40537

24748

63.8

24

NAGPUR (MIPL)

34

35

-2.9

192

214

-10.3

98198

93895

4.6

703186

640369

9.8

TOTAL (C) 7 CUSTOM AIRPORTS 25

PUNE

0

10

-100.0

0

10

-100.0

26

VISAKHAPATNAM

0

0

-

0

0

-

27

PATNA

0

0

-

0

0

-

28

CHANDIGARH BAGDOGRA

0

0

-

0

0

-

MADURAI

1 0

0 0

-

1 1

0 0

-

GAYA

0

0

-

0

0

-

1

10

-

2

10

-

20

0

-

86

0

-

29 30 31 TOTAL

(D) 17 DOMESTIC AIRPORTS (E) OTHER AIRPORTS GRAND TOTAL (A+B+C+D+E)

0

0

-

0

0

-

126509

123726

2.2

909816

844615

7.7

Source: AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

Cargo & Logistics I December 2014

41

STATS

DOMESTIC FREIGHT DOMESTIC FREIGHT SL. NO.

AIRPORT

OCTOBER 2014

(A) 18 INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS 1 CHENNAI 2 KOLKATA 3 AHMEDABAD 4 GOA 5 TRIVANDRUM 6 CALICUT 7 LUCKNOW 8 GUWAHATI 9 SRINAGAR 10 JAIPUR 11 BHUBANESWAR 12 MANGALORE 13 COIMBATORE 14 AMRITSAR 15 TRICHY 16 VARANASI 17 PORTBLAIR 18 IMPHAL TOTAL (B) 6 JV INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS 19 DELHI (DIAL) 20 MUMBAI (MIAL) 21 BANGALORE (BIAL) 22 HYDERABAD (GHIAL) 23 COCHIN(CIAL) 24 NAGPUR (MIPL) TOTAL (C) 7 CUSTOM AIRPORTS 25 PUNE 26 VISAKHAPATNAM 27 PATNA 28 CHANDIGARH 29 BAGDOGRA 30 MADURAI 31 GAYA TOTAL (D) 15 DOMESTIC AIRPORTS 32 INDORE 33 JAMMU 34 RAIPUR 35 AGARTALA 36 VADODARA 37 RANCHI 38 AURANGABAD 39 UDAIPUR 40 BHOPAL 41 LEH 42 DEHRADUN 43 RAJKOT 44 JODHPUR 45 TIRUPATHI 46 DIBRUGARH (D) 17 DOMESTIC AIRPORTS (E) OTHER AIRPORTS GRAND TOTAL (A+B+C+D+E)

For the month OCTOBER 2013

ANNEXURE-IVB

FREIGHT (IN TONNES) For the period April - October % % 2014-15 2013-14 Change Change

6956 7023 3619 290 111 12 404 926 524 175 511 37 668 50 0 62 241 0 21609

6766 7118 3218 266 358 19 271 551 322 541 361 31 616 4 0 58 272 361 21133

2.8 -1.3 12.5 9.0 -69.0 -36.8 49.1 68.1 62.7 -67.7 41.6 19.4 8.4 1150.0 6.9 -11.4 -100.0 2.3

46945 54187 24719 1792 745 228 1896 5559 4017 853 2906 218 4424 241 0 396 1519 2198 152843

41832 49231 20953 1336 1203 104 1700 3946 2369 4081 2207 188 3640 72 0 262 1401 2404 136929

12.2 10.1 18.0 34.1 -38.1 119.2 11.5 40.9 69.6 -79.1 31.7 16.0 21.5 234.7 51.1 8.4 -8.6 11.6

24019 17951 10408 3826 923 655 57782

21220 16932 8513 3513 828 515 51521

13.2 6.0 22.3 8.9 11.5 27.2 12.2

153925 123686 66544 25003 6590 3457 379205

119768 106816 53452 21177 5435 3016 309664

28.5 15.8 24.5 18.1 21.3 14.6 22.5

2461 40 263 23 248 142 0 3177

2038 106 360 372 148 105 0 3129

20.8 -62.3 -26.9 -93.8 67.6 35.2 1.5

15665 2368 3000 3224 1675 698 0 26630

527 158 356 366 135 321 114 3 92 92 3 12 1 0 31 2211 76 84855

265 155 288 446 188 253 34 0 66 73 0 14 7 0 28 1817 148 77748

98.9 1.9 23.6 -17.9 -28.2 26.9 235.3 39.4 26.0 -14.3 -85.7 10.7 21.7 -48.6 9.1

3808 1018 2308 3785 1072 1977 722 9 571 726 19 73 6 0 164 16258 754 575690

11729 1035 2648 2056 1045 711 019224 2638 990 1886 4078 1128 1383 415 0 508 621 0 105 13 0 177 13942 885 480644

33.6 128.8 13.3 56.8 60.3 -1.8 38.5 44.4 2.8 22.4 -7.2 -5.0 43.0 74.0 12.4 16.9 -30.5 -53.8 -7.3 16.6 -14.8 19.8

Source: AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

42

December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

STATS

INTERNATIONAL &(INT'L+DOM.) DOMESTIC FREIGHT FREIGHT SL. NO.

AIRPORT

OCTOBER 2014

(A) 18 INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS 1 CHENNAI 2 KOLKATA 3 AHMEDABAD 4 GOA 5 TRIVANDRUM 6 CALICUT 7 LUCKNOW 8 GUWAHATI 9 SRINAGAR* 10 JAIPUR 11 BHUBANESWAR 12 MANGALORE 13 COIMBATORE 14 AMRITSAR 15 TRICHY 16 VARANASI 17 PORTBLAIR 18 IMPHAL TOTAL (B) 6 JV INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS 19 DELHI (DIAL) 20 MUMBAI (MIAL) 21 BANGALORE (BIAL) 22 HYDERABAD (GHIAL) 23 COCHIN(CIAL) 24 NAGPUR (MIPL) TOTAL (C) 7 CUSTOM AIRPORTS 25 PUNE 26 VISAKHAPATNAM 27 PATNA 28 CHANDIGARH 29 BAGDOGRA 30 MADURAI 31 GAYA TOTAL (D) 15 DOMESTIC AIRPORTS 32 INDORE 33 JAMMU 34 RAIPUR 35 AGARTALA 36 VADODARA 37 RANCHI 38 AURANGABAD 39 UDAIPUR 40 BHOPAL 41 LEH 42 DEHRADUN 43 RAJKOT 44 JODHPUR 45 TIRUPATHI 46 DIBRUGARH (D) 17 DOMESTIC AIRPORTS (E) OTHER AIRPORTS GRAND TOTAL (A+B+C+D+E)

NOTE:

For the month OCTOBER 2013

ANNEXURE-IVC

FREIGHT (IN TONNES) For the period April - October % % 2014-15 2013-14 Change Change

25049 10690 5309 400 2159 1991 510 927 524 238 511 67 742 89 390 62 241 0 49899

26225 10991 4636 404 2272 1824 359 551 322 558 361 41 715 564 440 58 272 361 50954

-4.5 -2.7 14.5 -1.0 -5.0 9.2 42.1 68.2 62.7 -57.3 41.6 63.4 3.8 -84.2 -11.4 6.9 -11.4 -100.0 -2.1

180333 82372 35142 2488 16991 13004 2700 5570 4017 1194 2906 372 4953 511 2719 396 1519 2198 359385

173788 75774 30521 2394 17146 13914 2343 3955 2369 4211 2207 199 4194 1330 2753 262 1401 2404 341165

3.8 8.7 15.1 3.9 -0.9 -6.5 15.2 40.8 69.6 -71.6 31.7 86.9 18.1 -61.6 -1.2 51.1 8.4 -8.6 5.3

58332 57455 24324 8102 7078 689 155980

55782 57470 20412 7217 3985 550 145416

4.6 0.0 19.2 12.3 77.6 25.3 7.3

406620 403764 164449 56782 47127 3649 1082391

346706 378570 141817 49527 30183 3230 950033

17.3 6.7 16.0 14.6 56.1 13.0 13.9

2461 40 263 23 249 142 0 3178

2048 106 360 372 148 105 0 3139

20.2 -62.3 -26.9 -93.8 68.2 35.2 #DIV/0!

1.2

15665 2368 3000 3224 1676 699 0 26632

11739 1035 2648 2056 1045 711 0 19234

33.4 128.8 13.3 56.8 60.4 -1.7 #DIV/0!

38.5

527 158 356 366 135 341 114 3 92 92 3 12 1 0 31 2231 76 211364

265 155 288 446 188 253 34 0 66 73 0 14 7 0 28 1817 148 201474

98.9 1.9 23.6 -17.9 -28.2 34.8 235.3 #DIV/0!

39.4 26.0 #DIV/0!

-14.3 -85.7 #DIV/0!

10.7 22.8 -48.6 4.9

3808 1018 2308 3785 1072 2063 722 9 571 726 19 73 6 0 164 16344 754 1485506

2638 990 1886 4078 1128 1383 415 0 508 621 0 105 13 0 177 13942 885 1325259

44.4 2.8 22.4 -7.2 -5.0 49.2 74.0 #DIV/0!

12.4 16.9 #DIV/0!

-30.5 -53.8 #DIV/0!

-7.3 17.2 -14.8 12.1

Biju Patnaik Airport, Bhubaneswar, Odisha and Imphal Airport, Manipur airports declared as International airports vide Notification No.AV.20014/003/98-VB(AAI) dated 14th November, 2013 by Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India.

Source: AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

44

December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

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WOMEN IN CARGO

“A woman helps bring order in the house” The chaotic world of logistics, where last-minute changes are the norm, needs a woman’s hand to steady things. And that’s where Dr Veni Mathur steps in. A teacher — she is a transport economist with a PhD from IIT and has been a Visiting Faculty at IIT, Delhi for the last 15 years — she believes that women definitely have a place in the world of cargo and all that is needed is education and training.

Cargo is essentially a male-dominated industry. How did you find yourself in it?

always been cooperative. Logistics is really building chains.

Yes, Logistics is a male-dominated sector, which is unorganised and chaotic to the extent that there are always some last minute changes to be made to suit the needs of an important client that leads to frayed tempers but the presence of a woman helps to bring order in the house. There is place for women in the areas of Customer care, Marketing, HR, back office maintenance of files and records and most important, education and training.

Do you specialise in any section of the industry: e.g. handling of dangerous goods, etc.?

For how many years have you been with the cargo industry and how has the journey been thus far?

•

I have been attached to the Logistics industry for more than 15 years. My area of interest has been Education & Training. I am a certified trainer and evaluator for the CILT (Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport, International, based in UK) courses on Logistics and Transport. I have also assisted in developing the Diploma in Logistics course for the Institute of Rail Transport besides conducting courses in Transport Planning and IT Applications in Transport at the School of Planning & Architecture. This journey has been very exciting, where I am satisfied to have helped candidates to enrich themselves and make a successful career in the field of Logistics. In doing so I have earned a lot of respect.

How have your colleagues and those reporting to you reacted to you?

The people I have worked with have

46

December 2014 I Cargo & Logistics

My area of interest, Education & Training, is my field of expertise as well. Here one needs to continually innovate to meet the changing demands of the industry.

What is so exciting about the cargo industry that keeps you attracted to it?

•

•

The challenge of constantly evolving to meet the demand and help reduce cost and enhance profits.

To keep abreast with the changing norms at the world level.

The use of Intelligent Transport Systems and other IT based solutions and how to indigenise them for successful usage within India for real time information availability.

How confident are you about future growth on equal opportunity basis with male colleagues?

A woman who successfully runs a house, meeting last minute challenges and demands of the family can handle a Logistics firm efficiently and do all operations. The stumbling block is the environment and the attitude of the people around. Cargo handling and driving at odd hours is more of a safety concern. Education and training can bring about this kind of behavioral change.

What advice would you give youngsters – especially women – to join the industry?

Logistics is a ‘sunrise industry’ and there is a great scope for youngsters to join this industry and make a successful career. There

is need to break away from the old concept of a transporter and bring in new technology and ideas that will improve efficiency and transparency as well as help to reduce the overall costs of movement, thereby market prices.

RNI No. DELENG/2011/387546

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