New Delhi: Nine months after the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) project was announced, to link India and Europe through the Arabian Peninsula via sea and rail links, work has begun to operationalize the first leg of the corridor between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), ThePrint has learnt.
Efforts have begun to harmonise vessel, voyage and cargo-related procedures between the ports on India’s western coast viz., Mundra, Kandla and Nhava Sheva and the UAE including ports like Jebel Ali and Fujairah.
India has set a ‘100-day deadline’ to complete this process.
“The intent is to migrate to a digital platform, as a first step, for exchange of vessel and voyage-related documents between the ports on both the sides of this maritime leg. This will improve operational efficiencies and simplify compliance requirements thereby facilitating trade and ease of doing business,” a senior government official in the know of things told The Print.
Put simply, the objective is to exchange documents related to vessel and cargo clearances seamlessly through a virtual platform, to which port authorities on both sides will be onboarded.
The official added that this will be an ongoing process, which shall be scaled up subsequently to include regulatory interfaces involved in cargo and vessel clearances on both the sides of India–UAE leg of the corridor.
“Shipping routes between ports on India’s western coast and the UAE are currently active, and simplification and harmonisation of procedures on both the sides will help in making the whole transportation process across the route ‘seamless’,” said the official.
India, the US, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, Germany and the European Union (EU) had come together last September in New Delhi during the G-20 Summit to launch the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. The corridor involves transit by ship between India, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, followed by a rail link to Jordan from where the shipment will move by sea again to Turkey and further by rail to Europe.
It is also learnt that RITES (Rail India Technical and Economic Service Limited) — a PSU under the Ministry of Railways — may engage with the stakeholders to facilitate and coordinate for smooth structuring and implementation of the planned initiative.
A second official added that with the complete operationalization of IMEC, and with necessary railway infrastructure in place, cargo from India can be transported to Russia and Europe bypassing the conventional Red Sea route through the Suez Canal.
Once the shipments reach Israel via the rail link from Saudi Arabia to Jordan, it will then make its way to port of Piraeus in the southwest of Greece and onwards to other parts of Europe.
The second official added that operationalizing rail link between Saudi Arabia and Jordan is one of the most important components of the IMEC. “Once the entire rail infrastructure is in place, the cargo from Indian ships can be transported via rail to Jordan and onwards to Europe. They won’t have to cross the Red Sea to reach Europe through the Suez Canal.”
Currently, 37 percent of India’s total foreign trade with Europe takes place through the Suez Canal, which has seen a record drop in transits this year due to attacks by Houthis.
ThePrint has also learnt that several rounds of meetings have taken place between officials from the ministries of external affairs, shipping and commerce to deliberate on India’s role in the IMEC. A joint working group comprising stakeholders from ministries of external affairs, commerce, shipping, railways and departments, including customs, has also been formed to iron out details.
The two officials, however, clarified that the entire IMEC corridor is not being operationalised just yet. “It’s just the first leg of the corridor that we plan to operationalise in the first 100 days (of the Modi government),” said the second official.
Further, according to officials in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, India is already working to augment the capacity of its western ports to support EXIM (export-import) cargo, which will come in handy once IMEC takes off.
The Union Cabinet Wednesday cleared a proposal to develop the Rs 76,220 crore deepwater port at Vadhavan in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, which will also be linked to the corridor. Located along the Arabian coast, about 150 km north of Mumbai, once complete, it will be the biggest container port in India — both in terms of capacity and draft (depth in harbour).
Currently, there are three ports on India’s western coast that will be linked to IMEC — Jawaharlal Nehru or Nhava Sheva Port in Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai, and Kandla or Deendayal and Mundra ports in Gujarat’s Kutch.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: IMEC — bridge between East and West, as well as India’s queen’s gambit against China