INSTC to Substantially Increase India’s Exim Trade with Russia, Central Asia
Mumbai, July 05, 2017: The proposed 7,200 km long International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multi-mode network of sea , rail, and road route for moving freight between India,Russia,Iran, Europe and Central Asia , will support the growth of the Indian exports by reducing the transport cost by $2,500 per 15 tonnes of cargo.
As per a study conducted by the Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI), moving cargo over the INSTC will be 30% cheaper and 40% shorter than the current traditional route. The traditional Suez Canal route takes 45-60 days whereas the INSTC would take 25-30 days. The INSTC is likely to increase trade connectivity between major cities of Mumbai,Moscow,Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas , Astrakhan , Bandar Anzali .
According to Mr. Subhasis Ghosh, Director of Maritime World Services, the progress on cargo movement on INSTC would be discussed on September 16, 2017 on the final day of the three-day Maritime Nation India 2017 Trade show which commences in Mumbai on September 14, 2017. The INSTC International Conference -2017 is being conducted by the Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) and is supported by the Ministry of Commerce. Mr Ghosh said INSTC could be viewed as an alternative to the Suez Canal route, which takes longer and is more expensive for Indian cargo destined for trade with Eurasian countries.
Mr. Ghosh said that the entire maritime and logistics ecosystem, ranging from exporters, importers, forwarders and ship liners, port sand terminal operators, shipyards and dockyards, and cruise line and travel agents from across the world will participate in talks about the opportunities and challenges in their business sectors, over three days at Maritime Nation India 2017.
A stakeholders-conference on the subject INSTC-Express Corridor from India to Russia was held in New Delhi on May 18, 2017 at Foreign Service Institute (FSI). The attendees at FSI were members of diplomatic community, freight forwarders, media, representatives of various ministries, officers and staff of Foreign Training Institute.
The discussion centred around possible routes of INSTC, its popularization, development and optimal utilisation of Chabahar port to complement INSTC and to provide connectivity to Central Asia, modalities of and impediments to multi-modal transport.
Mr. Ghosh said the NSTC, on its implementation, would also boost bilateral trade between Russia and India. The successful activation of the corridor will help connect India to Russia within 16-21 days at competitive freight rates leading to development of trade on the INSTC. At present we have to either use Rotterdam port or land route via China to reach Russia and Central Asia. These are long, expensive and time-consuming.
The plan is to move goods from Jawaharlal Nehru and Kandla ports on India’s west coast to Bandar Abbas (Iran) by sea. From Bandar Abbas the goods will be transported to Bandar-e-Anzali (Iranian port on Caspian Sea) by road and from there to Astrakhan (a Caspian port in Russia) by sea. The goods would then be transported into Russian Federation and Europe by Russian railways.
India and Russia have fixed a target of $30 billion trade volume to be achieved by 2025. Presently, bilateral trade between both nations is extremely low and it was just $9.51 billion.If India partners with Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), it will further boost and expand its economic, trade and investment opportunities in more countries in this region.
