Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: In a significant transformation of India’s export logistics, the Container Corporation of India (Concor) has successfully scaled its pioneering initiative of offering domestic containers for international trade, turning inland industrial towns into virtual seaports and providing a critical boost to the nation’s export ambitions.
What began as a tentative step a few years ago has now evolved into a cornerstone of the country’s supply chain infrastructure, directly supporting the goals of the National Logistics Policy.
The initiative, which once made headlines for its first shipment from Mundra to Jebel Ali in partnership with the UAE-based Rais Hassan Saadi Group, has moved far beyond its initial scope. Concor’s initial offering of its fleet, then numbering around 55,000 containers, for West Asian routes has expanded into a robust, pan-global operation.
The company now facilitates shipments to key markets in East and South East Asia, Europe, and the United States, forging alliances with a multitude of international shipping lines.
Turns around supply chain network by seamless integration of ports with factory gates
The core of this success lies in its simple yet revolutionary value proposition: bringing the port to the factory gate. For decades, exporters in India’s hinterland, particularly in hubs like the textile-rich belt of Coimbatore and Tiruppur, faced significant hurdles. They had to arrange for road transport to gateway ports like Chennai or Kochi and then depend on foreign shipping lines to source empty containers, often leading to delays and inflated costs.
“Concor’s model has been a game-changer,” said a senior member of the Tiruppur Exporters’ Association. “We can now book Concor’s containers at our local Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Irugur, complete all customs formalities there, and have our goods move seamlessly by rail to the port for direct loading onto a vessel. This has slashed our transit times and logistics overheads significantly.”
The impact is equally profound for the agricultural sector. By making containers readily available at ICDs across the country, Concor has enabled farmers and agri-exporters to move perishable goods to international markets with greater speed and reliability. This end-to-end service, from farm to final destination, strengthens the cold chain and enhances the competitiveness of Indian agricultural products globally.
Operationally, Concor has masterfully solved the complex puzzle of container repositioning. By entering into agreements with international shipping lines to handle their import cargo, Concor ensures a steady two-way flow.
Containers arriving with imports are efficiently moved inland and then re-allocated for export cargo, eliminating the costly “empty-return” leg and improving asset utilisation for all stakeholders.
This strategic evolution aligns perfectly with the National Logistics Policy (NLP), which aims to reduce India’s logistics costs from a high of 13-14 per cent of GDP to a global benchmark of 8 per cent. By creating a seamless multi-modal network, Concor’s service is a tangible success story for NLP.
The company’s transformation from a domestic rail hauler to an integrated logistics provider has not gone unnoticed. As the Government proceeds with its plan for strategic disinvestment of a 30.8 per cent stake in the Navratna PSU, this proven track record of innovation and successful expansion makes Concor an increasingly attractive proposition for potential private sector partners looking to invest in India’s booming logistics story.