Background paper on

port connectivity in
Gujarat

Confederation of Indian Industry

Background Paper Prepared by
Deloitte Touch Tohmatsu India Private Limited

Contents

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1. Executive summary
2. Introduction
3. Indian ports scenario
3.1. Traffic handled
3.2. Overview of port connectivity
4. Ports in Gujarat
4.1. Traffic handled
4.2. Hinterland & O-D analysis
4.3. Issues
5. State inland connectivity
5.1. Road linkage
5.2. Rail linkage
5.3. Storage facilites
6. Measures required

1. Executive summary

The country's maritime sector has significantly expanded

in the last two decades, both in terms of number of
operational ports and cargo volume. During 2006-07,
the combined cargo traffic handled by all major and
non-major ports amounted to 634.84 Million Tonnes
(MT) with a growth of 10.24% over the previous year. In
the same period, the state of Gujarat has handled
around 185.42 MT of cargo, with Kandla accounting for
29% and the remaining 71% being handled by the nonmajor ports. The state has the distinction of handling
the maximum non-major cargo traffic in India. The GMB
ports are expected to handle cargo traffic to the tune of
324 MMTPA (Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum) by
2015-16. Gujarat has vast cargo generating hinterland
of the Central, North & North West India to provide
gateway for EXIM trade.
Gujarat is acting as one of the prime movers in the
nation's economic development, accounting for 17.2%
of fixed capital investment, 15.6% of value of
production, 20.0% of India's industrial output and
22.0% of India's exports. While Gujarat has 19
operational gateways across its coastline, a significant
portion of the containerized cargo generated within the
state of Gujarat is serviced by JNPT / Mumbai and not by
the ports within the state. One of the main factors that
influence the decision of the Shipper (Exporters /
Importers) to route their cargo to JNPT / Mumbai is the
better inland - port connectivity; while industries in
South Gujarat prefer JNPT due to its proximity.
Other factors influencing the preference of the Shippers
in Gujarat for Mumbai ports arise due to lack of
adequate shipping lines options, mother vessels not
calling on Gujarat ports, unavailability of direct
connections of the existing shipping lines to important
destinations, lack of regular train service from
Ahmedabad ICD to important Gujarat ports, etc. The
root cause for the above factors can however be traced
to the existing inland port connectivity which causes a
greater transit time due to lack of seamless inland
movement. In the event of better road & rail
connectivity of the Gujarat cargo belts to these ports,
the manufacturers would have a lesser transit time and
hence a faster turnaround time of their cargo goods.
Initiatives for improving port connectivity have been

2009 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited

undertaken through NHAI (National Highway Authority

of India) and RVNL (Rail Vikas Nigam Limited). The port
connectivity projects in Gujarat include Gandhidham Samakhiali Package I,II & III covering 56.2 km by NHAI in
the road sector and in rail, Gandhidham Palnapur gauge
conversion project ( 313 km), Bharuch-Samni-Dahej
gauge conversion project ( 62 kms), Surat Hazira new
line project ( 30 km).
The Phase I of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) is
envisaged to be completed by 2012. The Western Rail
Freight Corridor would comprise of 1483 km of a
double line diesel track from JNPT to Dadri via
Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Phulera-Rewari.
Junction Stations between the existing railway system
and the Western DFC have been provided at Vasai Road,
Kosad/ Gothangam, Makarpura (Vadodara), Amli Road
(Sabarmati), Palanpur, Marwar Jn., Phulera, Rewari and
Pirthala Road. The focus is on ensuring high impact
developments within 150 km distance on either side of
alignment of DFC
The Committee of Secretaries (CoS), GoI has
recommended that minimum 4-lane road and double
line rail connectivity must be provided for major ports. It
would be worthwhile to consider implementing the
recommendation of the CoS to the other non-major
ports in Gujarat that are already handling a reasonable
cargo volume.

2. Introduction

The impressive economic performance of the country

has directly impacted the encouraging growth rate in
sea port cargo volumes. It is accepted that around 95
per cent of the country's trade by volume (70 per cent in
terms of value) is moved by sea. India's maritime sector
has significantly expanded in the last two decades, both
in terms of number of ports operating and cargo volume
handled. The governments both state & central in
collaboration with various stakeholders have accordingly
taken steps for accelerating capacity creation at Indian
ports. While the priority for improved port performance
usually focuses on its waterfront and other landside
development within the perimeter of the port;
development of the supporting infrastructure in terms of
road and rail connectivity also acts as an impetus and a
catalyst to a superior port performance.

3. Indian ports scenario

3.1. Traffic handled

India is endowed with an extensive coastline of 7,517
km. There are 12 major ports under the jurisdiction of
the union government and 187 non major ports spread
across nine coastal states regulated by the respective
State Government. However only 48 non-major ports are
handling cargo. While major ports handle approx 73%
of total cargo traffic, non-major ports account for the
balance 27 %( in 1996-97, the share was around 10%).

During the year 2006-07, the combined cargo traffic

handled by all major and non-major ports amounted to
634.84 Million Tonnes (MT) with a growth of 10.24%
over the previous year. The major ports have handled a
traffic of 463.84 MT registering a growth rate of 9.69%
over 2005-06. The share of non-major ports cargo
traffic was 171 MT with a growth of 11.76% over
2005-06.

Table 1: Capacity & cargo traffic at major ports

Existing capacity and cargo traffic at major ports (Million tonnes)

(As on Mar 31,

2007)

2005-06

2006-07

April-Nov
2007

Kandla

67.00

45.91

52.98

41.90

Mumbai

43.75

44.19

52.37

38.16

JNPT

51.70

37.83

44.82

35.17

Mormugao

29.50

31.69

34.24

19.70

New Mangalore

38.00

34.45

32.04

24.27

Cochin

19.35

13.89

15.31

10.40

Tuticorin

20.55

17.14

18.00

13.48

Chennai

48.80

47.25

53.41

37.80

Ennore

13.00

9.17

10.71

7.63

Vizag

55.75

55.80

56.39

42.13

Paradip

66.40

33.11

38.52

26.86

Kolkatta / Haldia

54.80

53.14

55.05

36.04

Total

508.6

423.57

463.84

333.54

Source: Indian Ports Association (IPA) and CMIE

Cargo traffic

Capacity

Port

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As per the report by the Committee of Secretaries GoI,

it is estimated that the traffic for all the ports is likely to
grow at a compounded annual rate of growth (CARG)
of 7.57% till 2013-14 and would reach around 961.55
MT by 2013-14.

Figure 1 : Growth of traffic at Indian ports

In Mn tonnes
600
500

The CARG for traffic at major ports for the same period
is estimated at 7.43% and would have cargo traffic of
around 705.84 MT, while the CARG for the non-major
ports would be around 8.47% with cargo volume of
about 250 MT. The highest CARG is expected in
container traffic, which is at 17.30%.
At present, the country has an annual capacity of
around 750 MT of which 508 MT is of the Major Ports
and the balance 242 MT is of the non-major ports.
The government has envisaged the need for increasing
the total port capacity to 1,500 MT by the end of the
eleventh Five Year Plan (2011-12) and to 2,000 MT by
the end of Twelfth Five Year Plan (2016-17)

400
300
200
100
0

0-51 0-61 0-71 0-81 0-01 1-02 2-03 3-04 4-05 5-06 6-07 7-08
195 196 197 198 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200

Major ports

Non-major ports

Growth of traffic between :

1950-51 and 1980-81 (30 years)
1980-81 and 1990-91 (10 years)
1990-91 and 2000-01 (10 years)
2000-01 and 2006-07 (07 years)

+ 61 million tonnes
+ 72 million tonnes
+ 217 million tonnes
+ 266 million tonnes

Source: Indian Ports Association (IPA)

Figure 2 : Commodity wise cargo traffic at major

ports (2006-07) (%)
17.51
33.27
3.04

15.84

12.98

17.36

POL

Iron ore

Coal

Container

Fertilizers

Other cargo

Source: Indian Ports Association (IPA)

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3.2. Overview of port connectivity

Resulting from the dynamic growth registered by the
ports in cargo volumes, enhanced port connectivity has
become essential to facilitate an improved port
performance.
Table 2: Indicative mode of evacuation /
transportation for respective cargo group
Cargo Group

Moved By

Crude Oil

Pipeline

100%

POL

Railway
Road
Pipeline

25%
25%
50%

LPG

Railway
Road

50%
50%

LNG

Pipeline

100%

Thermal Coal
(Loading Port)
(Unloading Port)

Railway
100%
Conveyor 80%
Railway
20%
Railway

100%

IWT
Railway
Pipeline
Railway
Railway
Railway

80%
20%
100%
100%
100%
100%

Food Grain

Railway
Road

70%
30%

Fertilizer Raw Material

Railway
Road
IWT
Conveyor

30%
30%
15%
15%

Other Dry Bulk

Railway
Road

30%
70%

Other Liquid Bulk

Pipeline
Railway
Road

20%
20%
60%

Containers
(Share of Railways
increases, when traffic or
distance increases)

Railway
Road

45%
55%

Coking Coal
Iron Ore
Mormugao
New Mangalore
Tamil Nadu
Andhra Pradesh
Orissa, W.B

Source: Report of the Committtee of Secretaries, GoI

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Congestions near the ports are not an uncommon

phenomenon. This problem is further aggravated by
poor rail and road connectivity / capacity.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has the
mandate for providing road connectivity to the major
ports. The port connectivity project was included under
Phase I of the National Highways Development
Programme (NHDP). Of the 380 kms envisaged, NHAI
has so far completed 112 kms, while projects covering
248 kms are under implementation and balance yet to
be awarded.

Table 3: Port connectivity projects undertaken by

NHAI in Gujarat
Stretch

NH No

Length (Km)

Gandhidham - Samakhiali
Package I

8A

18.00

Gandhidham - Samakhiali
Package II

8A

22.00

Gandhidham - Samakhiali
Package III

8A

16.16

Total

56.16

Source: NHAI

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), incorporated in 2003 is

the nodal agency for boosting the rail connectivity to
ports and development of corridors to hinterland
including multi-modal corridors for movement of
containers. Details of rail port connectivity projects in
Gujarat, Rajasthan & North undertaken by RVNL are
indicated in Table 4.
Some of the other major rail projects that have been
planned include the Eastern dedicated rail corridor from
Ludhiana to Sonnagar; the Western Dedicated Freight
Corridor originating from JNPT to Dadri.

Table 4: Rail port connectivity projects of RVNL in

Gujarat, Rajasthan & North India.
Project

Type of
Project

Length
(Km)

Est. Cost
(Rs. Cr)

State

Delhi-Rewari

Gauge
Conversion

572.0

144.0

Delhi /
Hary

Ajmer - PhuleraRingus-Rewari

Gauge
Conversion

295.0

480.0

Raj

Bhildi- Samdari

Gauge
Conversion

1,400.0

231.0

Raj

Gandhidham Palnapur

Gauge
Conversion

313.0

453.0

Guj

Bharuch-SamniDahej

Gauge
Conversion

62.0

161.0

Guj

Surat-Hajira

New Line

30.0

130.0

Guj

Source: RVNL

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4. Ports in Gujarat

4.1. Traffic handled

Gujarats port sector has shown rapid development due
to the astute planning, clear policies, and focussed
investment initiatives announced & driven by Gujarat
Maritime Board and facilitated by the entrepreneurial
spirit of the states businessmen. The state of Gujarat
boasts of four important private ports viz Pipavav (Indias
first private port), Mundra Port & SEZ, Dahej and Hazira.
The state has 43 ports, of which Kandla is the major
port, while the balance are non-major ports. Of the 42
non-major ports, 19 are operational.

Figure 3 : Port map of Gujarat

Figure 4 : Growth trends in GMB Ports

In Mn tonnes
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

Source: Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board

Source: Gujarat Maritime Board

In 2006-07, Gujarat handled around 185.42 million

tonnes of cargo, with Kandla accounting for 29 % and
the remaining 71 % being handled by the non-major
ports. Gujarat has the distinction of handling the
maximum non-major port cargo traffic in India. Figure 4
indicates the growth trends in the traffic at the GMB
ports (excluding Kandla & Vadinar)

Estimates show the GMB ports are expected to handle

cargo traffic to the tune of 324 MMTPA by 2015-16. To
facilitate and meet the cargo projections, GMB has
proposed the development of some new ports at
Dholera; Positra; Simar; Vansi-Borsi; Mithivirdi; Bedi;
Maroli; Suthrapada; Modhawa; Khambhat; Mahuva. The
huge investments in the port sector would demand
investments in the infrastructure facilities like roads and
railways for faster and efficient handling of the cargo
movement. With the development of the new ports
with modern handling facilities, many of the ports in
Gujarat would be acting as gateway ports for rest of the
country, especially the North-West hinterland.
Magdalla, Jafrabad, Mul-Dwarka, Sikka, Dahej and
Jakhau are the locations of captive jetties currently used
by various companies including Essar, Reliance, Gujarat
Ambuja, L&T, Kribhco, GSFC, IPCL, Sanghi Industries.
The rest of the operational ports service the cargo from
parts of Gujarat and from the North and Central India.
An overview of the referred cargo belts is presented in
the subsequent section.
4.2. Hinterland & O-D analysis
The hinterland for which the port acts as the Gateway
can be classified into the three regions of primary,
secondary and tertiary depending on the proximity of
the hinterland to the port. The primary hinterland would
be the immediate geographical area close to the port
and a source of assured cargo to the port (say in the
vicinity of 40-50 kms); the secondary hinterland can be
defined as areas that have an option of two or more
ports close by on a single coastline, while the tertiary

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hinterland would be termed as geographical areas that

have the alternative of using multiple coastline / ports.

Figure 6 : Kutch-Saurashtra Cargo Belt

The cargo hinterland for the ports of Gujarat usually

stretches from the areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Western
U.P & Madhya Pradesh upto NCR, Punjab and Haryana.
An overview of the profile of these cargo belts is
indicated below.
Gujarat Cargo Belts
As per Gujarat Industries Commissionarate, the state
accounts for 17.2% of fixed capital investment, 15.6%
of value of production, 20.0% of Indias industrial
output and 22.0% of Indias exports. Gujarat has
achieved the distinction of being the most industrially
developed state in India in respect of investment in
industrial sector.
In 1960s only four cities namely Ahmedabad, Baroda,
Surat and Rajkot and some isolated locations witnessed
industrial development.
Today, the industrial development is widespread
throughout the state.
Figure 5 : Growth Centres & Industrial Estates of
Gujarat

Source: Maps of India & Deloitte Research

The commodities imported in this belt are coal,

fertilizers and food grains. Exports commodities include
agriculture products and containers. The preferred mode
of cargo movement of these belts to the ports of
Kandla, Pipavav & Mundra is by road.
Central & North Gujarat Belt
This belt comprises of areas of Vadodara, Ahmedabad,
Mehsana, Godra, Palanpur, Kadi, Anand, Khambat,
Himat Nagar.
Figure 7 : Central & North Gujarat Cargo Belt

Source: Maps of India

Saurashtra & Kutch Cargo belt

The cargo regions of Saurashtra and Kutch include
Amreli, Bhavnagar, Porbander, Veraval, Junagadh,
Rajkot, and Surendranagar. While cargo belts in
Saurashtra act as the primary hinterland to the port of
Pipavav; those in Kutch & areas close to Central Gujarat
act as the primary hinterland for Kandla & Mundra.

Source: Maps of India & Deloitte Research

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The containerized cargo export from this region moves

through JNPT through ICD Ahmedabad due to good rail
connectivity & availability of mother vessels. Import of
bulk commodities like coal, fertilizers and food grains for
this belt is usually through ports of Bedi, Magdalla,
Mundra, Navlakhi, Pipavav and Kandla. Exports from this
belt include pharmaceutical products, machinery,
engineering goods etc.
South Gujarat
The regions in this cargo belt include Baruch, Ankleswar,
Vapi, Valsad, and Surat. Most of the containerized
exports from this region are routed to JNPT. Due to the
proximity of the Mumbai ports for this region, it makes
more economic sense to ship through Mumbai / JNPT.
Figure 8 : South Gujarat Cargo Belt

Source: Maps of India

Road is the preferred mode of transport to JNPT for the

cargo emanating from this belt.
Other cargo belts
Rajasthan Cargo belt under Southern Rajasthan
(Chittodgarh, Udaipur, Kota, Siroi, Bilwara) is the primary
hinterland for the ports of Kandla & Mundra and mode
of inland transport is through road. The cargo belts of
North Rajasthan (Jaipur, Jodhpur, Alwar, Bikaner) prefer
JNPT due to good rail road network.

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National Capital Region Delhi, Dadri, Rewadi,

Noida, Gaziabad, Gurgaon, Faridabad fall under this
cargo belt. Around 75% of the containers from this
cargo belt are routed through JNPT; with the balance
routed to the ports of Pipavav, Mundra & Kandla in
Gujarat.
Western U.P & M.P The western U.P belt comprising
of Moradabad, Saranpur, Meerut generates reasonable
volume of EXIM cargo of which again around 75% are
routed through the Mumbai region ports mainly
because of good road connectivity. Cargo from Indore /
Bhopal and parts of M.P are routed through Gujarat.
Punjab, Haryana The cargo belt region comprises
large volume of containerised cargo due to the presence
of industrial towns of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar.
Majority of the cargo is routed to JNPT
4.3. Issues
As observed from the above, a significant portion of the
cargo from the secondary and tertiary hinterland
especially the containerized cargo is routed to JNPT,
though these belts are closer to ports in Gujarat. Some
of the reasons why ports in Gujarat are unable to attract
cargo from these belts are due to factors like lack of
adequate shipping lines options, mother vessels not
calling on ports in Gujarat, unavailability of direct
connections by the existing shipping lines to important
destinations, preference to FCL cargo over LCL cargo by
ports in Gujarat, inadequate equipments available for
stuffing & loading at ports, greater transit time, low
awareness about the port facilities in Gujarat amongst
the shippers (importers / exporters), preference of the
forwarders for JNPT. In addition, better inland
connectivity to JNPT also acts as a significant factor that
influences the decision of the Shippers to route their
cargo to that port.

5. State inland connectivity

Ports require an excellent supporting inland

infrastructure to offer cost competitive solutions to its
clients. While most of the ports in Gujarat are no doubt
connected through rail and road as depicted in Table 5,
there are issues related to the quality of inland
connectivity that acts as the stumbling block in
attracting more cargo and challenges seamless
movement.
It is imperative that with the development of growth
centres like ports and industries, the supporting
infrastructure of roads and railways must also be
upgraded to reap the benefits of development driven by
the referred growth centres. A significant portion of the
containerized cargo generated within the state of
Gujarat (and that which could be served by the ports in
Gujarat, especially that of Central Gujarat) is serviced by
JNPT.
If these cargo volumes are routed through the ports in
the state, the overall savings in transportation cost
would have a ripple effect on the States GDP and
facilitate further economic growth. In the event of
better road & rail connectivity of the Gujarat cargo belts
to these ports, the manufacturers would have a lesser
transit time and hence a faster turnaround time of their
cargo goods.

In addition, the hassles and time lost in interstate

movement especially at the Octroi Check posts in
Maharashtra would be averted. Ports of Pipavav &
Mundra also offer the facility of double stack container
trains, which can be leveraged by the shippers to reduce
their overall transportation & shipment cost. The social
benefits accrued due to the routing of the cargo to the
Gujarat ports in terms of employment generation &
technical skills upgradation of the personnel involved in
the supply chain, development of ancillary support
infrastructure around the port locations would also lead
to a direct impact on the States economy & in turn the
National productivity.
Superior & a dependable inland transportation
infrastructure allow businesses to receive inputs to
production facilities and to transport finished goods to
overseas/ domestic market in an efficient manner. A
seamless inland transport system allows companies to
lower overall transportation costs, which lowers
production costs and enhances productivity and profits.
It is therefore vital that the quality of the rail and road
connectivity to the ports is enhanced.

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Table 5: Existing Inland connectivity to some of the Gujarat Ports

Ports

Road link

Nearest rail link

Bedi

Connected to NH from Rajkot

Jamnagar Rly Station ( 7 Kms from

Bedi)

Bhavnagar

Connected with the State Highway

Connected by Broad Gauge (B.G)

Line

Dahej

Connected to Bharuch ( 45 kms) and

Vadodara ( 108 km) by road

Bharuch Station

GAPL

Connected to N H network via SH no 50

via Anjar and SH no 6 via Gandhidham

57 k B.G rail line from Mundra port

to Adipur station provides rail
connectivity to National Railway grid

GPPL

Port Pipavav has built a 11-km long 4 lane

expressway connecting port to NH 8E

Directly connected to hinterland by

B.G rail network of railways

Jafrabad

B.G line available from Rajula which

is 22 kms away

Jakhau

120 km from Bhuj. Port connected to

Jakhau village ( 12 km away) by road

Nearest Railway station is Malaya

Mandvi

52 kms away from Bhuj town &

connected with coastal highway

Magdalla

S.H - 2 kms from Port N.H 8 - 15 km away

from Port

15 kms away from Magdalla Port (

Sachin Yard)

Mundra (Old)

Connected to Gandhidham by road and

then by National Highway

B.G line available from Gandhidham

to Adani Port

Navlakhi

Road from port available connecting

National Highway at Morbi

Connected by BG railway line via

Maliya

Okha

Connected by road to Jamnagar /

Porbandar and from there by National
Highway (NH)

Connected by Broad Gauge (B.G)

Line

Porbander

Connected by road to Rajkot and from

there by National Highway (NH)

Connected by Broad Gauge (B.G)

Line

Simar

Connected with coastal highway by a

village road of 8 km

Nearest meter gauge railway line is

at Delvada about 20 km

Vansi -Borsi

NH no 8 is about 35 km from the site

BG rail is at a distance of 13 km at
Navsari

Veraval

Connected with Ahmedabad & coastal

highway by road

Narrow gauge line in port

Source: Gujarat Maritime Board

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5.1. Road linkage

Gujarat has an extensive road network and boasts of the
largest percentage of paved roads in the country
Figure 9 : Road network in Gujarat

The existing road linkage to the major port of Kandla is

good. Internal Roads in Kandla Port have been
broadened and strengthened and there is a four-lane
smooth road connectivity to all the Port Trust Gates. This
has been triggered by the Gandhidham - Samakhiali
Packages I, II & III covering 56.2 km under the port
connectivity scheme of NHAI. These port-road
connectivity projects are being implemented through
Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) formed by NHAI.
It may be also worthwhile to consider implementing the
recommendation of the CoS of having 4-lane road
connectivity to the other ports in Gujarat that are
already handling a reasonable cargo volume including
Bedi, Dahej, Mundra, Pipavav, Hazira, Jafrabad,
Magdalla, Mul-Dwarka, Navlakhi, Okha & Sikka. Most of
the roads connecting the referred ports are either
district roads/ village road.

Source: Maps of India

Table 6: Status of road network in Gujarat

Road type

Length (Km)

National highway

3,260

State highway

19,163

Major district road

20,858

Other district road

10,599

Village road

21,042

Total length

74,922

The Gujarat government had initiated a World Bank loan

in 2000 to upgrade 850 km and periodic maintenance
of around 1,000 km of State Highways. However in
spite of the said efforts of the Government, the present
conditions of the roads to some of the above referred
ports are not in a good shape, with the roads practically
becoming inaccessible during the monsoons due to
inadequate maintenance. The poor condition is
compounded with the movement of heavy trailer axle
load to & from the port and inherent deficiencies in
structural thickness. For e.g. a stretch of road to Mundra
10 kms prior to the port is damaged; certain portions of
the road leading to Pipavav are congested. In case of
cargo originating from South Gujarat, there is huge
congestion and bottleneck near Surat due to the
presence of only one bridge connecting Surat Mumbai
by road.

Source: Roads & Building Dept, GoG

The Committee of Secretaries (CoS), GoI has

recommended that minimum 4-lane road and double
line rail connectivity must be provided for major ports.
One can vouch for the recommendation of the CoS for
the Kandla Port Trust road connectivity.

5.2. Rail linkage

The railways have always provided a crucial link to the
various growth centres / economic hubs including ports.
Railways have provided an efficient and safe mode of
cargo transportation and over the past few years has
attracted cargo traditionally moving by road.

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Figure 10 : Rail Network in Gujarat

Source: Maps of India

At the moment there are no regular train services by

CONCOR from ICD Ahmedabad / Vadodara to ports of
Kandla, Mundra and Pipavav. This leads to the
movement of the cargo from Ahmedabad /Vadodara
ICD to JNPT. With the introduction of private container
operators and increasing containerization of cargo,
hopefully things should change. As indicated in Table 5,
very few ports in Gujarat have an existing Broad Gauge
rail siding at their port (though in some ports like
Jafrabad, Magdalla which are captive ports, rail
connectivity may not be required).
There have been initiatives taken by the government
and private entities to implement rail connectivity
project to ports. These rail-port projects can be
implemented through the SPV route, build-ownoperate-transfer (BOOT) model, BOT annuity route or
through private port railways.
Port Rail SPVs
i. Pipavav Railway Company Limited (PRCL)
PRCL was established in 2000 and is the 50:50 Joint
Venture Company of Indian Railways and the Gujarat
Pipavav Port Ltd (GPPL). PRCL is the first infrastructure
model of Public - Private Partnership in rail
transportation and was set up to construct, maintain
and operate 271 km long broad gauge railway line
connecting Port of Pipavav to Surendranagar Junction.
PRCL had initiated the first double stack train on Indian
railways. PRCL are also planning to design special
wagons for the movement of double stack and triple
stack containers.
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2009 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited

ii. Kutch Railway Company Limited (KRC)

Established in 2004, KRC is the joint venture of Rail
Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), Kandla Port Trust (KPT),
Gujarat Adani Port Ltd. (GAPL) and Government of
Gujarat (GoG) for the gauge conversion of Gandhidham
- Palanpur. The Gandhidham- Palanpur railway link is a
crucial link connecting the Kandla Port & Mundra Port.
The project involves providing Broad Gauge (BG) rail
connectivity between Palanpur Jn station to
Gandhidham Jn and dismantling of MG track and other
work from Gandhidham Jn. KRC has already
commissioned the Gandhidham-Palanpur Gauge
Conversion Project by November, 2006 and the project
in the very first year of operation has moved 8.5 MT of
freight traffic. KRC has also obtained the mandate of
gauge conversion of 223 Km meter gauge line from
Bhildi in Gujarat to Samdari in Rajasthan, with an
estimated cost of Rs. 345 Cr. These projects would bring
Kandla and Mundra ports closer to North by more than
250 Kms, making transportation through these ports
more cost effective.
iii. Bharuch Dahej Railway Company Ltd (BDRCL)
Established in Jan-2007, the SPV is to implement the
62.36-km Bharuch-Samni-Dahej gauge conversion
project. The equity partners of the project are RVNL,
Dahej SEZ Limited, Gujarat Maritime Board, Adani
Petronet Port Private Limited and Gujarat Narmada
Valley Fertilizers Limited.
iv. Surat Hazira Railway Company
A SPV for the implementation of a port connectivity
project between Surat and Hazira port in Gujarat is
proposed. The length of the connectivity will be about
30 km and the estimated cost of the project is Rs 130
crore. The partners in the SPV include RVNL, Essar
Group, Hazira port, Gujarat Government's industrial
promotion agency and Kribhco.
In addition, a SPV for the rail connectivity of Dholera
Port (north of Bhavnagar) is also on the cards.
v. Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India
Limited
The Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project was
conceived mainly due to the capacity constraints faced
by the existing railway network. At present the freight
and the passenger trains are using the same tracks
causing delays.

Figure 11 : Dedicated Railway Freight Corridors.

Source: Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd

The Construction for Phase I of the project is proposed

to be completed by 2012. A special purpose vehicle,
Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited
(DFCCIL) will execute the project. It is proposed that
DFCCIL will implement the project through a mix of EPC
and PPP modes. The main route on both the corridors
will be developed by DFCCIL, while the feeder routes
shall be developed by Indian Railways.
The Western Rail Freight Corridor would comprise of
1483 km of a double line diesel track from JNPT to Dadri
via Vadodara-Ahmedabad-Palanpur-Phulera-Rewari.
Junction Stations between the existing railway system
and the Western DFC would be provided at Vasai Road,
Kosad/ Gothangam, Makarpura (Vadodara), Amli Road
(Sabarmati), Palanpur, Marwar Jn., Phulera, Rewari and
Pirthala Road. The focus of the DFC is to ensure high
impact developments within 150 km distance on either
side of alignment of DFC
The traffic on the Western Corridor mainly comprises of
containers from JNPT and Mumbai Port and ports of
Pipavav, Mundra and Kandla destined for ICDs located in
northern India, especially at Tughlakabad, Dadri and
Dandharikalan. Besides Containers, other commodities
moving on the Western DFC are POL, Fertilizers, Food
grains, Salt, Coal, Iron & Steel and Cement. The rail
share of container traffic on this corridor is slated to
increase from 0.69 million TEUs in 2005-06 to 6.2
million TEUs in 2021-22. The other commodities are
projected to increase from 23 million tonnes in 2005-06
to 40 million tonnes in 2021-22. Once commissioned,
the DFC along with the feeder routes to the ports in

Gujarat will ensure sufficient capacity for increasing

demand.
5.3. Storage facilites
Apart from the inland transport connectivity, adequate
and quality CFSs / ICDs are also a pre-requisite for good
port connectivity, since these are considered as
extensions of ports. The primary functions of ICDs / CFSs
involve receipt and dispatch / delivery of cargo, stuffing
and stripping of containers, transit operations by rail/
road to & from serving ports, customs clearance,
consolidation and desegregation of Less-than-Container
load (LCL) cargo, temporary storage of cargo and
containers, reworking of containers, and maintenance
and repair of container units.
Following are the details of some of the ICDs / CFSs in
Gujarat
i. CONCOR operated
CONCOR has rail served ICDs at Ankleswar, Sabarmati
(Ahmedabad), Vadodara and Channi (near Vadodara);
port container terminal at Gandhidham (Kandla) and
pure domestic terminal at Khodiyar (Ahmedabad).
ii. Central Warehouse Corporation (CWC) Operated
CWC operates ICDs/ CFSs at Adalaj (Ahmedabad),
Kandla (Gandhidham), Dasrath (Vadodara), Vapi, Kandla
Port and warehouses at Pipavav.
iii. Private CFSs
These include Mundra International Container Terminal
(MICT) CFS, Seabird CFS, Honey Comb CFS, Mundhra
CFS, Saurashtra Containers, Forbes CFS, Asuthosh
Container Services CFS, Allcargo Global Logistics etc.
Though there are adequate numbers of CFS/ ICDs in the
state, it is essential that these are equipped with stateof-the-art material handling & scanning equipment,
manned by professional qualified staff, regulated by
trained and experienced Customs officials and is free
from the risk of pilferage and rodent menace.
Support infrastructure related to Management
Information system (MIS) / Electronic data Interchange
(EDI) network and IT infrastructure for data processing is
inadequate and steps are required to upgrade the same.
The ratio of containerized exports to import in Gujarat
ports is skewed and hence this results in shortfall of
empty containers.
2009 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited

16

6. Measures required

Following are some of the basic measures required to

facilitate a seamless movement of EXIM cargo from the
Gujrat cargo belts to & from the Gujarat Ports
i. Establishing a minimum of four lane road connectivity
and double line rail connectivity to those ports handling
a reasonable cargo volume.
ii. Regular container train service between ICDs
(Ahmedabad / Vadodara) to the ports of Gujarat i.e
Mundra / Pipavav.
iii. Adoption of an EDI / MIS system integrating all the
stakeholders (ports/ forwarders/ importers / exporters).
iv. Better yard management and deputation of adequate
number of Customs officials to the gateway terminals.
V. Provision of support infrastructure for road cargo
operators such as truck terminals, repair facilities etc.

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2009 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited

Bibliography

Websites
www.cewacor.nic.in
www.concorindia.com
www.customsgujarat.nic.in
www.gidb.org
www.gmbports.org
www.ic.gujarat.gov.in
www.india.gov.in
www.indianrailways.gov.in
www.infrastructure.gov.in
www.ipa.nic.in
www.jbic.go.jp
www.kandlaport.gov.in
www.kutchrail.org
www.mapsofindia.com
www.nhai.org
www.pipavav.com
www.pipavavrailway.com
www.portofmundra.com
www.rnbgujarat.org
www.thfrc.gov
Others
Presentation on Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor by
Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and
Ministry of Commerce & Industry , GoI ( MOCI)

Indian Infrastructure August 2007 Key

Developments, Pg 36

Presentation on Port Led Development in Gujarat by

Shri H K Dash, IAS, CEO - GMB

Report on Study of Containerised Marine Trade of

Gujarat Based exporters & importers conducted by
IIM-A (PGPX), B K School of Management with CII
(Gujarat)

Report of the Committee of Secretaries Road Rail

Connectivity of Major Ports

Towards Maritime Excellence Gujarat Maritime

Board

2009 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited

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Contacts

For additional information, kindly contact

Mr. Hemant Bhattbhatt
Senior Director
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited
31, Nutan Bharat Society,
Alkapuri
Baroda - 390007
Tel : +91 (0) 265 2333 776
Mobile: +91 (0) 98240 14075
Fax : +91 (0) 265 2339 729
Email: hbhattbhatt@deloitte.com

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2009 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited

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