World's biggest ship skips India amid lack of port infrastructure
The world's biggest ship, Ever Alot, couldn't dock in India as most coastal harbors aren't deep enough to handle vessels that huge. The Jawaharlal Nehru Port, the country's biggest state-operated container handling facility, doesn't have the 17-m draft required for such large vessels to navigate. It also skipped the Adani Ports-operated Mundra Port, the only facility that claimed to be able to handle it.
Why does this story matter?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been stressing turning India into the world's factory, a tag currently associated with China. A 2022 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report said that poor shipping connectivity has impeded India's integration into the global value chain (GVC). India scored 34% in the GVC index compared to 45.9% of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Current share of manufacturing in GDP stands at 14%
Currently, manufacturing accounts for 14% of India's GDP, which PM Modi wants to raise to 25%. India's contribution to global goods export is 2.1% now, which India aspires to increase to 3% by 2027 and to 10% by 2047.
Ever Alot's capacity is 24,000 TEU, Mundra hosted 17,292 TEU
Ever Alot is the world's largest boxship with a length of 400 meters and a capacity of over 24,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). The biggest vessel which docked at the Mundra Port was the APL Raffles in January 2022 with a capacity of 17,292 TEU, though it was carrying a load of 13,159 TEU on board.
Not just ports, but other transportation networks need improvement
Though ultra-large ships provide economies of scale, it alone isn't enough to propel India into the GVC, said Shailesh Garg, a director at Drewry Maritime Advisors. Road and rail networks between ports and warehouses, factories, and shops need to be upgraded to accelerate the movement of goods to and from the hinterland. Mundra Port ranks 48th in a global index in terms of performance.
Sri Lanka, Malaysia hosted Ever Alot
Although, barring China, India has a bigger economy and more resources than its other neighboring countries, in recent months Ever Alot visited Sri Lanka and Malaysia, which are primarily maritime nations. APL Raffles visited Mundra Port three years after Vietnam hosted a similar ship. Notably, Vietnam has a score above 50% in the GVC participation index.
