As part of its ongoing study on ‘Bridging Infrastructural Deficits at Select Trade Ports in India,’ Bureau of Research on Industry and Economic Fundamentals (BRIEF) organized a regional Stakeholders’ Consultation on 18 November 2015 in Mumbai. The Consultation was aimed at bringing together key stakeholders from the ports sector (Land and Sea) to deliberate upon the critical infrastructural gaps and areas of policy reforms in order to improve the trade opportunities through the ports and design a concrete way forward.

The participation included representation of authorities from Mumbai Zone Customs and Mumbai Port Trust, along with various users from the selected trade ports- Mumbai Port Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Cochin Port Trust, V.O.C Port Trust, Paradip Port Trust, Haldia Port Trust, Mundra Port, Attari Integrated Check Post and Petrapole Land Customs Station. This included associations like Indian Importers Association, Customs’ House Agents Associations, Federation of Freight Forwarders Association of India, Container Freight Station (CFS) Association, etc.

Towards the end of the session, the stakeholders reached a consensus on designing a plan of action for the selected ports in terms of addressing the identified infrastructural issues and overall, addressing the regulatory deficits and increasing PPP opportunities. It was agreed that such steps are necessary for increasing India’s international competitiveness and undertake trade facilitation measures for improving India’s ease of doing business.

A glimpse of the proceedings through the Stakeholders’ Consultation is provided below:

 

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