Container hub Time for India to supply containers to the world: PM Modi
1st Oct 2022 | Source by https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the time has come for India to supply ‘Made in India’ containers to the world to reduce over-dependence on one country for container requirements.
In an apparent hint at the recent global container shortage and the resultant escalation in global freight costs, Modi asked entrepreneurs from Bhavnagar’s Alang ship-breaking yard to utilise steel recovered from ship-breaking to make containers and supply it to the world.
“Recently we observed that excessive dependence on one country for container supplies can trigger a big crisis. This is a new and big opportunity for Bhavnagar. On the one side, India’s share in international trade is rising, and on the other, the world is looking for a dependable container supplier,” Modi said during a rally at Bhavnagar, on the first day of his two-day visit to Gujarat.
Modi said, conventionally, the steel recovered from ship-breaking activity at Alang has been used widely in the construction sector, but the same could be used to make containers, too. “The world wants lakhs of containers. The containers to be made in Bhavnagar would energise the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission and create local employment opportunities,” Modi said.
In a further opening up of opportunities for the Alang ship-breakers, Modi said the Centre’s newly-launched vehicle scrappage policy would enable Alang to become a big hub for vehicle scrapping. “Alang has expertise in scrapping of ships. They can also do vehicle scrapping. I am confident that the first and the biggest beneficiaries would be you,” he said in an address to the youth and entrepreneurs from across Bhavnagar and parts of Saurashtra.
For the farmers, traders and communities of Saurashtra, Modi said the RoRo ferry service between Bhavnagar district’s Ghogha to Surat’s Hazira has reduced the distance between Saurashtra and Surat from 400 km via road earlier, to less than 100 km in the RoRo ferry. “So far, about 3 lakh passengers have used this mode and over 80,000 cars have been transported. This year too, about 40 lakh litres of petrol-diesel has been saved. This is a big savings for people,” said the Prime Minister, adding that the development works have been taking place silently without much noise and advertisement.
“In the past 20 years, we made honest efforts to make Gujarat’s coastline a gateway for India’s prosperity,” he said, adding the coastline has three big LNG terminals with India’s first coming up in Gujarat, which has also become a petrochemicals hub.
“We created a coal terminal network along the coast. Today, the coastal region of Gujarat has several power plants, which provide electricity not just to Gujarat, but also to other States,” Modi said. With the development of Dholera for renewable energy, space applications and the semi-conductor industry, Modi said the day is not far when Ahmedabad, Dholera and Bhavnagar will emerge as strong centres of development..
