Co-operation, not confrontation

On the face of it, the fight is between the two governments — Union Shipping Ministry and Orissa government — over extension of the limit of Kolkata port. The Orissa Government has opposed tooth and nail the Shipping Ministry's gazette notification allowing extension of the limit. But as every one knows, the behind-the-scene warriors are Kolkata Port Trust and Dhamra Port Company, the joint venture between L&T and Tata Steel. So the port and shipping circles anxiously awaited the day-long seminar on east coast ports, held in Kolkata recently, on learning the Chairman of KoPT and the CEO of Dhamra port, among others, would speak. They expected a lively debate, where sparks would fly, each trying to push his viewpoint strongly. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The CEO of Dhamra port arrived late because of flight delays. By that time the KoPT Chairman had already left the venue, having finished his speech. And, to everyone's surprise, each of them harped on cooperation, not confrontation, ruling out apprehensions of one port pinching the other's traffic. Every port would stand to benefit from the projected growth of the economy and the rise in port traffic, they emphasised. One wondered if the litigation pending in several courts on the port limit issue was at all necessary.

Auto production in overdrive

The automotive sector has been one of the key drivers of economic growth, not only in our country but also globally, presumably because this sector's growth has high correlation with GDP growth. In 2007, the world produced 70 million vehicles, of which India's share was 2.7 million. The corresponding figures in 2010 jumped to 72 million and 3.5 million respectively. The projection is that in 2015 when the world production of vehicles will rise to 97 million vehicles, our country's share too will rise to 6 million vehicles. China, of course, will be the largest market of 23.3 million vehicles, up from 15.2 million in 2010, but India, in all likelihood, will emerge as the fastest growing market. The implication is widespread. The market dynamics will force automakers to drastically change their design and develop new vehicles and demand for low-cost cars may rise. The automotive OEMs will be under tremendous pressure to cope with the changing requirements of a new product mix. The supply chain and logisitics management has to be fine-tuned. Most important, the automakers have to comply with environment and safety regulations.

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