CEO Insights India

The World Bank has recognized India as one of the top improvers for the year as India has advanced 23 ranks from standing 100th in 2017-18 to 77th rank in 2018-19, according to the World Bank report 2019 on Ease of Doing Business. This quantum leap indicates the country’s continuing shift towards global standards while the crucial factor immensely contributing to this growth is ‘Trading across Borders’ that reflects remarkable improvement from 146th rank last year to 80th rank this year. Moreover the Ministry of Shipping has been undertaking initiatives to improve parameters of ‘Trading across border’ as 92 percent of India’s Export-Import trade by volume is handled at ports.

The report indicates that this results from India’s continued reform agenda, which has made it the top-ranked economy in the region. Upgradation of port infrastructure, Improvement of processes, and digitization of document submission have substantially reduced Export/Import cargo handling-time at ports, significantly contributing towards improving trading across border parameters and growth in the World Bank’s report. Commenting on this Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation stated, “The focus has been on development of port infrastructure and capacity enhancement, improvement in last-mile connectivity and development of multi-modal hubs to promote EXIM while reducing logistics cost and time. Under Sagarmala, port-led-development initiative of the Govt, 266 port modernization projects with an investment of more than Rs 1.45 lakh Crore has been identified for implementation over next 10 years”.

The Government has initiated a series of steps to make India’s EXIM logistics more competitive in terms of time and cost. A series of studies to benchmark the performance of Indian Major Ports with their international counterparts has been undertaken and executed to increase the capacity and productivity to global standards. With more than five percent average growth at major ports over last 4 years, the Ministry of Shipping, has taken several steps to improve their operational efficiencies through policy and procedural changes and mechanization. As a result, key efficiency parameters have improved considerably and the Average TAT has reduced from 82 hrs to 64 hrs in 2017-18. Transfer of conventional activities to digital platforms, use of technology for moving cargo and simplification of processes have been further carried out to promote business and facilitate ease of doing business.