Mumbai : The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) – which handles nearly 50 pc of India’s container traffic – announced a slew of measures bringing relief to exporters whose containers remain stuck, choking up the port in the wake of the Gulf War. JNPA Chairperson Gaurav Daya along with top officers and stakeholders are monitoring the situation 24x7 and has given relief by way of 100 pc waivers of ground rent/dwell-time charges. An estimated 3,250-plus containers bound for different countries are stuck at the JNPA, rattling exporters, particularly those laden with perishable food stuffs, medicines and other emergency supplies, worth thousands of crores of rupees. The waiver charges shall be applicable for 15 days, from midnight of Feb. 28 to midnight of March 14 for all containers lying inside the JNPA Terminals from Feb. 2 or those which had entered its gates till 0700 hrs of March 8, as per a circular issued by JNPA GM (Traffic) Girish Thomas. “All terminal operators shall waive 80 per cent of the reefer plug in charges up to 15 days to those stranded reefer containers loaded with perishable goods, which were tying inside from Feb. 28 or those or those which had gated in till 0700 hours on March 8 only,” the circular reads. The JNPA comprises five container terminals – the Nhava Sheva Free Port Terminal (NSFT), Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT), Nhava Sheva India Gateway Terminal (NSIGT), Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal (BMCT), and GTI-APM Terminal (APM). They are operated by a mix of Indian and global port operators, including DP World, PSA International, APM Terminals, and JM Baxi. The JNPA said it will provide all necessary help and relief as per directives of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPS&W). Prior to this, the Port and Terminal Operators had already extended relief to the EXIM community which included a facility to store stranded containers in the terminals container yards till the cargo is shipped out. It engaged in constant consultation with the Customs authorities to facilitate storage of laden containers from other ports destined to the Middle East, as temporary transshipment cargo at JNPA terminals, besides providing additional storage area to the terminals for stacking such extra cargo.
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