By Bijaya Ghimire
HALDIA, India, Jan 6 – Haldia Port, lying 80 kilometers away from Calcutta, could be better alternative to the often-problematic and costly Calcutta Port for Nepali businessmen.
Frequent strikes and lockouts at the Calcutta Port resulting into heavy demurrage, has been costing Nepali businessmen extra millions of rupees every year. Demurrage in the past four months alone has crossed over Rs 20 million.
Nepal Cargo Handling Agents Association (NCHAA), told the Nepali media persons that using Haldia Port instead of Calcutta Port would be more beneficial for Nepali businessmen involved in the foreign trade.
Not only is the Haldia Port more efficient in handling cargo, resulting in reduction of demurrage to a considerable extent, labor problem at Haldia is also almost non-existent, they said. In addition, freight at Haldia is far lower than at the Calcutta Port.
Calculations revealed that the costs of handling a 20 feet long container at the Calcutta Port costs around nine thousand Indian Rupees(IRs), while handling similar container in the Haldia Port costs as low as IRs 4500.
Further, the Haldia Port will be more attractive once it is directly connected to Birgunj Inland Container Depot (ICD) through broad-gauge railway. The railway link is under construction and is expected to complete within few months.
Light traffic and ability to accommodate huge cargo ships, unlike the busy Calcutta Port in the Hoogly river, are other beauties of the Haldia Port.
An agent involved in handling Nepali goods at both the ports, says, “Loading and unloading at the Haldia Port is quicker. In addition, low freight would reduce costs of export\import to a considerable extent, which means lesser pressure on the competitiveness of Nepali products abroad.”
Although the Transit Treaty signed between Nepal and India in 1998 stipulates that Nepal can use both Calcutta and Haldia Ports for carrying out overseas trade, trade with third countries takes place mostly via Calcutta Port.
Royal Nepal Trade Counselor Bhoj Raj Ghimire at Calcutta says since Indo-Nepal transit treaty permits Nepal from using the Haldia Port, businessmen should look into this opportunity. Even the Indian government favours the use of Haldia Port to Calcutta Port with a view to reduce load in Calcutta. “Nepali trade can be carried out more smoothly through the relatively traffic free Haldia than Calcutta,” said D Naik, Manager of Shipping and Cargo Handling, Haldia Port.
The busy Calcutta Port presently handles over 90 per cent of Nepali trade carried out through multi-modal containers. Nepal presently imports almost 22 thousand containers of goods annually.
However, some businessmen claim that the Haldia Port, being relatively new, lacks adequate infrastructure for carrying out large volume of foreign trade. Another problem associated with the port is the lack of Customs facilities, which however, Indian officials have committed to resolve if a bulk of Nepali trade is conducted via Haldia.