Concor resumes wagon movement from Delhi

The Container Corporation of India (Concor) yesterday resumed wagon movement from northern India's largest container depot at Tuglaquabad in Delhi to Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai.

The train service from the Internal Container Depot (ICD) in Delhi had to be stopped last week due to the failure of as many as 38 trains not returning to the depot. As a result, Concor had to stop all outward movement of containers from here on the advice of the ministry of railways.

"This is a direct fallout of the congestion the JNPT is facing. The impact of it is now spilling on to the ICD, where the present pendency stands at 1200 TEUs (twenty-equivalent foot unit)," a member of the Northern India Steamers Agents Association ( NISAA) said. Around 5000 containers were waiting to be loaded at the JNPT currently, he added.

The resumption of train services from the Internal Container Depot in Delhi, however, has provided only a temporary relief. The shipping lines, manufacturers and the exporters are afraid Concor may have to take such a step again.

The public sector company, which has a monopoly on rail-based movement of container cargo in the country, had faced a similar situation in May this year. NISAA representatives said, given the tight international delivery schedules, there was now an urgent need to find a permanent solution to address the congestion at the JNPT.

Of the six dedicated rail lines to the JNPT, two have been given on lease to Nhava Sheva container terminal as per the concession agreement signed when P&O took over the terminal. Of the remaining four lines, only two are operational due to a dispute between the JNPT and Nhava Sheva.

The shipping lines have approached the shipping ministry to ensure opening of the two idle lines by the JNPT. But the ministry has asked NISAA to ship their cargo to other ports as their attempts to open the lines have failed.

While the shipping lines have started exploring the option of turning to other ports such as Visakhapatnam and Chennai, they said the moves could be made economical if Concor, in turn could offer promotional rates for these ports. This would bring the cost for the lines at a similar range with the JNPT and Nhava Sheva.