India to press for fair access to logistics at G20 meetings

Cont’d from Pg. 3

“We have seen that shipping lines are dominated by western countries and shipping containers are with China. We will be taking up accessibility-related issues for developing nations. Logistics should be fair, accessible and equitable. We will focus on how to decrease the logistics costs,” a senior Government official said. Exporters said they faced severe problems post-covid as overseas freight rates jumped as much as 300-350% from pre-covid levels. Moreover, the lack of containers during the supply chain disruptionscausedmajorchallenges.

“Development of an Indian shipping line of global repute is need of the hour, as exporters are solely at the mercy of foreign shipping lines and the country repatriated over $80 billion as transport services cost during the calendar year 2021,” the Federation of Indian Export Organizations said. Last year, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had expressed dissatisfaction over the opacity of shipping rates. Goyal said the logistics sector had a lot of leakages and that shippingrateswerenottransparentlyannounced.

“Duringcovid-19,shipownerswerenotwillingtocometo India.Theyusedtoseeka50%premium.Problemiswehave very few shipping lines and we have been dependent on foreign shipping lines. Peak rates from India to UAE was $1200, but now it has come down to $50 due to lack of demand,” Raajesh Bhojwani, CEO & MD, RBB Ship CharteringPteLtdSingaporesaid.

The Government official quoted above further stated that a production linked incentive for containers is also in the works. According to the Government, India requires about 350,000 containers every year, and the demand is expected to increase going forward considering that India hassetanexporttargetof$2trillionby2030.

The economic survey had highlighted that rising inflation and monetary tightening led to a slowdown in globaloutputbeginninginthesecondhalfof2022.

As per United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) latest global trade update, global trade growth turned negative during the H2:2022, and geopolitical frictions, persisting inflationary pressures, and subdued demand are expected to suppress global trade furtherin2023.

“This is likely to affect many countries, including India, with the prospects of sluggish exports continuing into FY24, compared to the promise shown at the beginning of the currentyear,”thesurveystated.