Article - 93 Week 18
THE ENIGMATIC JNPT
This is no secret. The private Terminals in Nhava Sheva have scored many a brownie points over the State run JNPT in the past. The current state of affairs, after the unfortunate PAP strike, lamentably point in that single direction. The long waiting to get a berth, the short period of berthing window with low productivity, the serpentine queues to gate in the containers, the notoriously unpredictable closing and opening of Gates without sufficient prior notice, the painfully spiraling storage costs and forced SSR costs unjustly imposed on the operators, many a containers being shut-out on forced eviction of vessels from their berths, containers not found in their specified slots in the CY, containers missing their onward trains to the ICDs, and not to forget the plight of the trailer drivers glued to their vehicles for days-on in the extreme heat and humidity with severe impediments to a brief opportunity to sleep and a much needed daily ablution, have by default made the private operators the heros of the day and the state managed JNPT, the rowdy & lazy brat in the living room.
But perceptions could change quickly. The users would not forget the pain of dealing with the despotic & extortionist private operators in the recent past and even now. This is a time to reflect and see a better road ahead. We need a strong and competitive state entity to keep a lid on the greed of the private operators. But what we have is a strong and inefficient JNPT, that swallows up all good will of the public while unintentionally being an abettor to the greed of the private operators. We all know that our state can not do serious competitive business, unless you leave it to areas of monopoly. However, there is no harm if the state owns some strategic businesses. While the top management of JNPT should rest with the state, its operations need to be outsourced to a private (local) company. The private company should be rewarded on the basis of productivity. Eventually, the cost management should also be outsourced, where a percentage of the costs saved should be passed on. It's the call of the day to drive some real competition on the face of the private terminal operators.
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Brgds
Capt Rath
