The Shipping and Logistics Committee of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry organized the eleventh edition of the Annual Shipping and Logistics Conclave 2021-22 on 25th February 2022, on Virtual platform. The objective of the conclave was to highlight the upcoming projects on the Bay of Bengal region and to showcase the role of Startups and Digitization for development and growth of the Shipping and Logistics industry. Besides, the conclave discussed on how to make the Ports, Shipping and Logistics sector more sustainable in the near future.

The Annual Conclave was inaugurated by the Chief Guest Shri Gopal Krishna, Advisor, World Bank, South Asia Region, New Delhi and Former Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India. He mentioned that “Roadways predominantly plays a larger role in the Logistics sector. Costs can be reduced substantially if railways are utilized more frequently. Inland Waterways have suffered a lot due to lack of investments. There are few developments taken by the Govt. of India in the recent times in association with World Bank. Most of the Inland Waterways in this eastern part of the country owns through the Ganga−Brahmaputra channel which is an integrated system covering the India− Bangladesh region. It is also evident that the nation of Bangladesh has developed a robust shipping infrastructure in the recent times due to this. USAID is going to undertake a project which involves a transport connection between Farakka and Bangladesh through Padma River in which Government of India is investing in the ration 80:20 which will reduce the distance by a large scale.”

The other distinguished speakers for the Inaugural session were: Guest of Honour, The Shri Vinit Kumar, IRSEE, Chairman, Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust (erstwhile Kolkata Port Trust). He mentioned “In this year’s Budget, Govt. of India has introduced PM Gati Shakti programme which is driven by seven engines in which waterways and ports has been our focus. We also get to see a lot of investments happening in Ports sector. In the recent development, Kidderpore dock has been mechanized. More and more projects are coming in at Kolkata and Haldia for SMP like the development a liquid cargo handling terminal at Shalukhali. The project will help reduction in logistics costs to trade.”

Keynote Speaker, Shri Amrit Lal Meena, IAS, Special Secretary, Department of Logistics, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India. He said “As we are aware that PM Gati Shakti programme which is driven by seven engines, we tend to focus on the other five viz. roads, railways, airports, mass transport, logistics infra. All seven engines will pull forward the economy in a combined manner along with IT communication, energy transmission and several other factors. The PM Gati Shakti programme will help in increasing the GDP of the nation. The Gati Shakti − National Master Plan was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 13th October, last year. Gati Shakti is a digital platform which aims to bring 16 Ministries including Railways and Roadways together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. While the focus is to reduce the cost, this will also develop infrastructure, create industrial corridors with special attention towards minimizing the gap in coordination between Ministries” 

Special Guest, Prof. Dr. Ashima Goyal, Honb’le Member, Monetary Policy Committee of RBI; Professor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai; and Ex Member of Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister of India. She mentioned that “The efficiency is one of key factors when it comes to Logistics sector. India has a major cost disadvantage with logistics cost estimated at around 14% of GDP, compared to 8−10% in case of developing countries. The government has set a target to lower it by five percentage points. Block chain is the need of the hour in an unprecedented manner for the logistics sector. Implementing new blockchain−enabled platforms will allow easy coordination of documents on a shared distributed ledger; will result in making physical paperwork largely unnecessary. Moreover, this will lead to overall progress of the industry since the blockchain−based tracking system is more accurate as it enables all members of the platform to see the ledger at the same time, and have access to secured data in real time.”

The Annual Conclave was presided by Mr. S Hajara, Chair− person, Shipping and Logistics Committee, The Bengal Chamber. He mentioned that “An efficient, effective and robust logistics ecosystem will have a domino effect on the socio− economic development of our country. With the focus of the world economy shifting towards the eastern hemisphere, I am sure that eastern Indian parts will have a very significant role in country’s EXIM trade and this conclave will bring these issues into focus.”

The Conclave was spread over 3 technical sessions namely, Technical Session I on “Upcoming Projects in Shipping and Logistics with emphasis on The Bay of Bengal Region”, the session was moderated by Mr. Ashutosh Jaiswal, Co− Chairperson, Shipping and Logistics Committee, BCC&I and President − International Business Division & Logistics, Century Plyboards (India) Limited. The eminent panelists for this session were Capt. Mohit Chaturvedi, Head − India Container sales, (Business development), Adani Ports & SEZ, who presented on “Greenfield port development in the Eastern part of India”, Mr. Bijay Kumar Joshi, CEO, Kalinga International Coal Terminal Paradip Pvt Ltd (KICTPPL) gave a presentation on “Paradip Port” and Mr. Devdatta Bose, Group Sector Head (Ports &Harbours), Tata Consulting Engineers Ltd. who presented on “Comparison of West & East Coast ports and Challenges in  development  of  ports  in  East  Coast  of  India”

Technical Session II on “Paradigm Shift in Logistics Industry through Digitization and Scope of Investments in Ports, Shipping and Logistics for Startups”, the session was moderated by Mr. Surajit Sarkar, Member hipping and Logistics Committee, BCC&I and Chief Operating Officer, NICDC Logistics Data Services Limited. The eminent panelists for this session were Mr. Dinesh Tarachandani, Head − Global Logistics, DP World. Mr. Deepak Garg, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, RIVIGO Services Pvt Ltd and Mr. Swapnil Chavan, AVP Business Development, ODeX India Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Technical  Session III on “Logistics Industry − A Pillar of Sustainability”, the session was moderated by Capt Ravi Dey, Member, Shipping and Logistics Committee, BCC&I and Maritime Consultant, SeaTec UK Ltd. The eminent panelists for this session were Captain Som S Mishra, Head Out Bound Shipping, Tata Steel, Capt. Amit Wason, All India head − Operations & commercial, NYK Line India Pvt. Ltd. and Shri Yatish Kumar, Chairman & Managing Director, Braithwaite & Co (India) Ltd.

The conclave was attended by Central and State Government Officials, Domestic and EXIM Traders, representatives from the Shipping Lines, Shipping Agents, Port Officials, Freight Forwarders and Logistics Service Providers, Vessel and Barge Owners and Operators, representatives from the Ship and barge building and repairing industry, Start−ups, Supply Chain Operators, Maritime Institutes, Industry Associations, Corporate Bodies, etc. The conclave had total Viewers - 5,21,458 with total Impressions - 6,68,647 and Reach - 5,52,893. The entire programme was well covered in leading media houses namely, Times of India, Zee 5, Business Standard, The Print and The Week.