Shipping
Karnataka ports: Moored in trouble
KARNATAKA, with a 320-km coastline, has only one major commercial port to handle all its cargo -- the New Mangalore Port. The intermediate Karwar port is the only other main coastal service provider, leaving behind a huge gap in capacity.
SCI: Out of the turbulent waters of strategic sale?
THE Government, according to reports, has decided to shelve its plan to sell majority stake in Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) to a strategic partner. Instead, it is toying with the idea of a public float of part of the 80.12 per cent equity held by
it in the company. Though the move may be flayed by protagonists of strategic sale of PSUs, it makes sense for various reasons.
`New vessels will improve island mainland traffic'-- Mr Rajanikant Verma, MD, Lakshadweep Development Corporation
Mr Rajanikant Verma, Managing Director of the Lakshadweep Development Corporation, a fully-owned corporation of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep (UTL) Administration, is trying his best to improve transportation links between the mainland and the islan
d, both for passenger and cargo movement, and has, towards this end, chalked out ambitious plans. Mr Verma, who also holds additional charge of the UTL Administration, spoke to Business Line recently.
Coal throughput : Haldia needs steely support
ACCORDING to the Union Government's RDC (rationalised distribution of cargo) projection, the coking coal throughput at Haldia dock in 2001-02 has to be 4.2 million tonnes (MT) compared to the actual throughput of 3.98 MT in 2000-01, or a 2.18 lakh tonne
increase for this fiscal over the previous one.
Transport
Good news for crane manufacturers
CRANES and equipment manufacturers for the port sector should rejoice at reports of several port trusts' plans to acquire a number of cranes. If the reports are to be believed, New Mangalore port is to acquire two-level luffing cranes, Paradip port four
and Kandla port five. Each of these acquisitions will be of the 20-tonne type, costing Rs 8.5 crore or so. This is because the Indian Ports Association, it is learnt, has identified the 20-tonne-capacity luffing cranes as the most economic size for the I
ndian ports.
Bonded trucking -- Right road for air cargo sector
THE bonded trucking service from Chennai airport has completed a year's run and, despite the low volumes, has become an established logistics solution for the air cargo sector.
`Tracking-and-tracing' its way to success -- Mr M. K. Agarwal, Managing Director, Gati.
GATI Corporation Limited, the cargo company with an ISO 9001 certification, says it is able to thrive in the highly competitive industry by making substantial investments in technology to improve delivery levels. The technology will be furth
er upgraded in the next fiscal (July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002) by including the `track-and-trace' system, messaging, ERP and CRM. This step will not only tackle competition from domestic and international players but also stay ahead of others
and register quantum jumps in revenue earnings.
Truck operators moving to multi-axle, at last?
WHEN THE world has shifted to multi-axle trucks, India continues to rely on the single-axle type which, because of overloading, contributes significantly to road damage.
