Call for faster evacuation of cargo for better results

Visakhapatnam: The two-day maritime conclave organised by the Ministry of Shipping, Ports and Waterways and Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) concluded here on Thursday with a call to improve evacuation of cargo and overcoming rake problems to improve the performance of VPA.

The conclave was held to celebrate completion of 25 years by the first project under the Public Private Partnership programme at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority.

VPA Chairman K Rama Mohana Rao said there is shortage of container rakes which need to be addressed immediately. He observed that despite teething problems they are committed towards adopting a positive attitude towards PPP operators due to sharing of revenue.

Rao called for a shift towards corporate culture to compete with private ports and concerted efforts by all the stakeholders in the data-driven world. He said the Government of India under Sagarmala and Pradhan Mantri Gatishakti missions is trying hard to improve the logistic sector to drastically cut down the logistic cost.

Satish, CEO of Visakhapatnam General Cargo Berth (Vedanta) spoke on constraints faced by the PPP operators in implementation of concession of agreement and sought solutions to overcome.

Chaganti Srinivas, General Manager of Vizag Seaports Private Ltd, mentioned about the challenges encountered by the PPP operators.

Hemant Khatri, CMD, Hindustan Shipyard Ltd, Azhar Sharma, Executive Director, Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR), Ishwar Achanta, president, Federation of Association of Stevedores, David Raja, president, Logistics Convener, CII, Jeevan, president, Vizag Container Liners' Association, Sanjeev Malhotra, NASSCOM CEO, spoke.