The Hindu Business Line : Shipping Secretary for privatising Concor

While admitting that Concor was doing an `excellent' job, the Shipping Secretary pointed out that the shipping and ports sectors were facing difficulties, given the monopoly enjoyed by the railway PSU over container haulage operations to and from the ports.

THE Shipping Secretary, Mr D. T. Joseph, has stated that Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor) should be privatised to ensure survival of shipping and ports sectors.

While admitting that Concor was doing an `excellent' job, he pointed out that the shipping and ports sectors were facing difficulties, given the monopoly enjoyed by the railway PSU over container haulage operations to and from the ports.

"As a first step in this direction, Concor should be split region-wise into several smaller entities, and each should be operated as independent cost and profit centres and should be allowed to utilise the company's railway assets on the basis of hours. This will introduce some sort of competition, which will eventually benefit shipping lines and ports," Mr Joseph told Business Line.

Private terminal operators which have invested hundreds of crores of rupees in developing facilities at ports have, it is alleged, complained about their "not-so-pleasant" experiences of working with Concor.

"But, while doing so, they have requested me not to inform Concor that such complaints have been made since they have to continue relying on Concor being a monopoly service provider on movement of containers," Mr Joseph disclosed.

There is no better proof of the monopoly and clout enjoyed by Concor over rail haulage of containers than this, he noted.

A top official with a leading global container shipping line told Business Line that the Government should have an independent railway operator to run container trains in India which will be free from a Concor-like set up and which also do not have a container shipping line within its fold.

Though container shipping lines and private port operators are keen on investing funds in the business of running container trains on a particular route, they fear being `penalised' by Concor while depending on its services to carry containers to other parts of the country. "This would be detrimental to our interests," the official said.

Regulation of charge

Referring to the long-standing controversy over regulation of Terminal Handling Charges (THC) and Container Detention Charges (CDC) levied by the shipping lines, Mr Joseph said that some form of regulation was necessary to control these charges.

Attributing this situation to a "legislative gap," he said that none of the existing Acts mention these charges. As a result, none of the agencies involved can lay down the law for regulating these charges, he conceded.

The Shipping Secretary suggested that the trade and the shipping lines should sit together and decide the basis for levying such charges. "I am not saying that there should be total regulation of these charges, but some sort of regulation was necessary in this regard," he stated.But container shipping lines are not supporting this proposal.

"We are not in favouring of regulating THC. We are not cheating anybody on THC. It is just a cost recovery," says Mr Ian Claxton, Managing Director, APL (India) Pvt Ltd.

Maersk-Sealand, one of the world's biggest container shipping lines, has also opposed any regulation of THC. "I don't think we should have a regulatory body sitting in Delhi, saying who should do what on THC," Mr Hans Ole Madsen, Managing Director, Maersk India Pvt Ltd, remarked at a seminar on `Logistics Network in India' organised by the CII here last Friday.

Though he was not in favour of regulating the ocean freight charges levied by the container shipping lines, Mr Joseph said that the shipping lines should adopt a "consultative" approach before increasing the rates.

"We don't want to and it is not possible to regulate this aspect. But at least the shipping lines should consult the users before increasing the rates. We are a democratic country," he said.

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