Ahmedabad: If we told you that in years to come Ahmedabad would be going back to what it was in 15th century, you probably would get a sinking feeling. But hold on! Aapnu Amdavad is reinventing itself as a ‘port city’, as it used to be centuries ago.

With Gujarat riding a wave of port-led development and many new ports coming up in a semi-circle around Ahmedabad, the city is all set to emerge as a major destination for trading.With nine private ports being developed and existing ones being modernised through private sector involvement, Ahmedabad can well unseat Mumbai as a business hub.

Indications are already there. India’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, wants to wants to export cars through Mumdra and not Mumbai. Experts say, Ahmedabad could set a precedent as to how ports can bring about a seachange in the economic and infrastructural development of a city, which is not exactly located on the coast.

“Ahmedabad could be the first example of its kind in the world which would have grown not because of port activity per se but rather port activity coming close to it. SEZs and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) would also contribute greatly towards the city’s development,” says Prof G Raghuram, IIM-A faculty who specialises in ports and transportation.

The city is already witnessing a surge in service industry related to port activities with several small freight forwarding companies whose operations are at Mundra, Porbandar or Kandla ports, setting up their offices here. Rather than being just an hinterland city, Ahmedabad would pick up the international flavour of being a port-connected city due to the string of ports around it.
 
As far as container traffic is considered, Gujarat is a major threat to Mumbai. As a Crisil report states: “JNPT Mumbai is forecast to remain India’s major container port, but it is expected to face increasing competition from ports in the Gujarat region. The private ports of Mundra and Pipavav in Gujarat have already made significant in-roads into the container traffic of the northwestern hinterland and other Gujarat ports have similar plans. So Mumbai’s 57% share of container traffic is likely be eroded as competition in the region increases.”

ADVANTAGE GUJARAT

Average distance from northern markets to Gujarat: 1100 km Avergage Distance from northern market to Mumbai: 1500 km Savings per TEU in Gujarat Rs 4500 9 new private ports planned, developers selected Natural deep waters for big ships to berth at many places Huge backup area available for warehousing 38%, or 538 km, of the proposed 1438 km Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) lies in Gujarat

LIMITATIONS AT MUMBAI

Deepening the waters difficult now Huge demurrage due to congestion Limited availibiliy of back-up land Only two private ports coming up