Almost 300 senior Indian and international maritime professionals gathered in Mumbai for a lively 9th India Shipping Summit, organised jointly by Seatrade and TradeWinds, in the new venue of the Palladium Hotel, Mumbai. Against a tough economic backdrop, forty industry experts set out to determine the real shipping issues holding India back, the potential that exists, and more importantly, the secret for success.
In an open debate format, hosted by international journalist and broadcaster, Nisha Pillai, executives from across the industry discussed the major factors holding Indian shipping back. Nigel Bell, Managing Director, Bell Shipping Ltd, said, "India's shipping is not on a level playing field, Indian owners are paying taxes and their international competitors are not." He suggested that India should set up an international ship register and that Indian shipping must be allowed to thrive in a tax-free environment.
Ravi Mehrotra CBE, Executive Chairman, Foresight Group, felt, "The root cause needs to be cured first, with India's haphazard growth and an unbalanced economy. He also said that one of the key problems was, "Indian shipping is not entrepreneurial, unlike Greek shipping and if I had started here thirty years ago, and not in London, I would have failed in 2 years!"
Dr Anil Sharma, Founder, President & CEO, GMS also felt that India shipping, as an international business, has deeper root problems, such as no strategic plan. "India shipping needs to move away from the think tank... and move to a do tank. In a theme that was echoed by many, he went on to say, "The shipping industry is fragmented and all the sectors need to come together. The industry must steer the government".
Anil Devli, COO Commercial, Indian Register of Shipping & former CEO, Indian National Shipowners' Association, suggested, "the government should leave the industry alone, as legislation and bureaucracy is killing Indian shipping". However, looking to the future, "We need to set up supply chains, create infrastructure and develop our coastal shipping."
An international perspective was provided by Peter Hinchliffe, Secretary General, International Chamber of Shipping & International Shipping Federation, "All the key shipping centres worldwide have government support in common. Without that, the fight for domestic market is so much harder. The Indian shipping industry needs long-term passion and a strong lobbying voice."
As the two days of discussion developed, across the different maritime sectors including, Ports, Offshore, LNG, Oil & Gas, Coal, Finance and Shipbuilding, themes began to emerge, allowing delegates to piece together what may be the secret to winning in maritime India. India has all the ingredients to grow. Speakers talked about building on its strengths; harnessing its trained manpower, both in shipbuilding and crewing; working more closely with the professional financial system; taking advantage of the country's long coastline; and capitalising on India's strong trading position.
In what could be the first ideas of a blueprint plan for India's shipping industry, a series of actions were outlined in the summary of the Summit; to bring together all sections of the industry as one voice and set up a fully integrated maritime services cluster; lobby the government to ensure a level playing field so that Indian owners can compete; introduce a tax-free flag; set up Mumbai as maritime hub to compete with Singapore and Hong Kong; and perhaps most importantly, energise the will to move forward as an industry and as a country.
Many of the participants in this year's Summit were keen to take the ideas forward and revisit the progress made at next year's event, 13-15 October 2014. It seems the secret to maritime success lies within the industry. India has the talent and the attributes for success but they need the will to win.
Editors notes:
Principal sponsors: Essar Ports, FNSA Fuels Ltd
Sponsors: ABS, AXS Marine, DNV Petroleum Services, DP World, GAC, GMS, Ince & Co, IR Class Indian Register of Shipping, L&T Shipbuilding
• The India Shipping Summit was held on 21-23 October 2013 at the Palladium Hotel in Mumbai
• The event was jointly organised by Seatrade and TradeWinds and the 2013 event was the 9th in the series
• For more details visit indiashippingsummit.com or please contact John Foreman, Head of Marketing at [email protected] or Jon Chaplin, Director, TradeWinds Events at [email protected]
About the Organisers
Seatrade - seatrade-global.com
Established 40 years ago, Seatrade is a leader in maritime and cruise publications, conferences and exhibitions, training, awards and other special projects. Regular events include international trade exhibitions and conferences across all maritime sectors, management training courses for shipping professionals, training seminars for travel agents and maritime award schemes, including the prestigious Seatrade Awards held at the Guildhall in London. Seatrade publications include magazines, supplements and yearbooks, whilst daily maritime news is provided online by Seatrade Global.
TradeWinds Events – tradewindsevents.com
TradeWinds Events is the conference arm of shipping news provider TradeWinds. We help move business forward through information exchange, stimulating fresh thinking and professional networking. We produce lively, independent and interactive conferences covering a wide range of maritime sectors, including ship building, ship recycling, marine insurance, maritime security, offshore shipping and technology, and vessel chartering. Each conference agenda is carefully designed to tackle the most topical and often controversial subjects. We do not offer time on the podium in exchange for sponsorship, but rather on the merits of the contribution and we continually appraise our performance via regular delegate feedback surveys.