India to manufacture containers in Gujarat

The initiative aimed at attaining self-reliance in container production eyes Rs 1,000 crore investment from private players and looks to create one lakh jobs

New Delhi: Eyeing indigenous production of containers amid a global surge in demand, the Centre is looking to develop Bhavnagar in Gujarat as a container hub and has set up pilot projects for its manufacturing, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.

The initiative aimed at attaining self-reliance in container production eyes Rs 1,000 crore investment from private players and looks to create one lakh jobs.

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The move assumes significance amid reports of global shortages of containers with Indian containerised trade taking a hit owing to the staggered supply and demand shocks across geographies as per logistic majors.

“India requires about 3.5 lakh containers every year. There is no container production in India and we have to depend mainly on China which is a global producer. Now we want to develop Bhavnagar in Gujarat as a container hub and we have selected 10 places there for its production on a pilot basis,” Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.
The pilot project has been successful, he said.

“We expect private players to invest about Rs 1,000 crore in this space. We also expect creation of one lakh local jobs,” the minister said.

He said existing re-rolling and furnace industries are being encouraged to expand and take up this as demand for containerised cargo is increasing in India and globally. He said one container costs about Rs 3.5 lakh and once the production picks up, India would not be require to import it.

“We have formed a committee to look into standardisation, certification etc,” Mandaviya said.
“Shipping liner associations have assured us that they will purchase the containers. They have assured us that they will not import it once indigenous production starts,” he said. The ministry has talked to large steel players for the raw material.

There had been reports recently that non-availability of containers has resulted in air-lifting of cargo by some players.

As per the ports apex body IPA, container cargo handling has been on decline at 12 major ports with the just concluded fiscal recording 2.13 per cent decline in container cargo tonnage to 143.74 million tonnes as against 146.84 MT in 2019-2020.

The Indian Ports Association (IPA) in its latest report also said that container cargo in terms of TEUs (twenty foot equivalent unit) also dipped 3.75 per cent in 2020-2021 over the previous fiscal.