11th Biennial Conference on Ports Shipping & Logistics

Cont’d. from Pg. 4-5 or less skilled human resources. India had come a long way in terms of infrastructure development and technology integration, however there was stillalongwaytogo.

It was discussed that start ups were an important segment of the ecosystem which could target the pain-points of the industry and could come up with solutions. Therefore, encouragement through a collaborative and partnership approach would help companies to grow in the value chain and facilitate the growth of the industry as a whole.

Mr. S Dinakaran, DGM, New India Assurance Ltd offered the special address by giving the overview of New India Assurance and its services pertaining to the Maritime sector. He highlighted that New India has the highest capacity for Marine Hull, Cargo and Energy business in the Indian Market. It is the largest insurer in the Hull and Energy industry with a market share of 37.16% and the top insurer in the maritime line of business with a market share of 20%. Spread across several nations,assistingsectorswithchallengingrisksand projects in addition to established business lines. He mentioned that the New India assurance is the only insurer in India that offers Protection & Indemnity coverage for inland and coastal vessels. Additionally, they are providing protection for both BrownWaterandBlueWatervessels.

Panel 2: Investment Avenues for Infrastructure led growthopportunitiesinShipping,Ports&Logistics.

AnotherdistinctivepaneldiscussionwasonInvestment Avenues for Infrastructure led growth opportunities in Shipping, Ports & Logistics. The session moderator was Mr. Prasad Gadkari, Executive Director & Chief Strategy Officer, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). The panel members included Mr. Lars Sorensen, MD, Hapag Lloyd India Pvt. Ltd; Mr. Kenichi Kono, Senior Representative Japan, International Cooperation Agency (JICA), India; Mr. Vivek Kele, Director, Teamglobal Logistics Pvt Ltd; Mr. Parag Thally , SVP & Head Real Economy Group, Axis Bank and Mr. Deepal Shah, Deputy Group ChiefFinancialOfficer,AllcargoLogisticsLtd.

The scale of investments in the ports, shipping and logistics sector was growing. The multiple avenues of investments included domestic private equity companies, Banks,NBFCs,internationalequityinvestmentfunds,debt bonds, bilateral agencies and also through security markets. There were many opportunities in the industry along with multiple big players which invested in these sectors. Some of the examples included - Hapag Lloyd’s recent acquisition of 40% stake in JM Baxi Ports, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) funding the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor project, Mumbai Trans-Harbourlinkprojectsetc.

A strong digital infrastructure was considered as important as the robust physical infrastructure. Although inland waterways was considered as a developing sector, itcontinuedtoattractpublicinvestmentsinIndia.

Mr. Biju Sivakumar, Joint Managing Director and COO,NavioShipping gavethespecialaddresswhereinhe introducedNavioShipping,afastgrowingNVOCCshipping agency and international freight forwarding company which provides international shipping and logistics solutionstoitsclientsglobally.Heillustratedhisexperience bysharingoneofthecasestudies...