India’s dredging capacity is woefully short of the massive demand that has generated following the port modernization and infrastructure development now underway
As India’s international trade continues its furious growth pace bringing in measures for raising port capacity and improving infrastructure, alas it has also spiked all round concern for overcoming the severe draft restrictions in most ports that prevent large vessels from berthing. Though the Maritime Agenda envisages increasing the draft in all major ports to a minimum of 14 meters, and also deepening the approach channels, the country’s dredging industry is appallingly underdeveloped leaving ports to greatly depend on overseas dredging companies.
Just to undertake the maintenance dredging at all the 13 major ports annually comes to an estimated 60 million cubic meters which costs over $ 160 million. To add to this the government is now saddled with a massive capital dredging program for enhancing the draft to 14 m. In some cases global bids have been finalized and work is in different stages of completion. Since majority of Indian players already have their dredgers tied up with on-going contracts it is evident that the success of the dredging envisaged in the Maritime Agenda will depend more on global entities.
Giving details of the extensive study conducted by Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE) during the presentation on the Ports Modernization and Development India – An Overview of Dredging Scenario in India, at a seminar organized by Dubai based IQPC recently, Devdatta Bose, a renowned personality in port sector and presently, Vertical Head of Ports at Tata Consulting Engineers (TCE) stated that the country is badly short of dredgers. “Around 14 leading registered companies owning dredgers have a total fleet of around 31 TSHD, and 45 CSD and 2 Back Hoe with a few other support vessels. The only major operators is the government owned Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) initially set up primarily to undertake maintenance dredging in major ports. With growing opportunities, many other players are set to enter into this key sector. Global giants have already formed subsidiaries and set up shops in India.
As it is, large vessels cannot berth at Indian ports thus resulting in mother vessels transshipping Indian cargo at the ports of Colombo, Dubai, Jebel Ali, Salalah and Singapore. Fever pitch dredging activity is set to take place in the next two years both in Central Government run major ports and the State owned / privately owned non-major ports for enhancing the depth at the ports. Some projects are already underway.
But the opportunities for dredging companies in the coming two years amount to a total expenditure of $ 850 million at major ports and almost double at non-major/ private ports in the first phase. Projects exist in the ports of Paradip, Vishakhapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Mumbai and JNPT. The non-major / private ports on the other hand which come under the eight coastal states including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Orissa have drawn up ambitious plans.
In the second phase (2012- 17) some major ports are looking at plans to further undertake capital dredging which would amount to about $ 1 billion. These ports include Paradip, Vishakhapatnam, Ennore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, JNPT, New Mangalore, Mumbai and Port Blair.