The Indian government has intervened to address the congestion of containers at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), the country’s busiest container port located in Mumbai. A panel of senior officials has been established to tackle bottlenecks at all 12 major ports across India. This committee is expected to convene weekly or bi-weekly to address the challenges faced by the business sector.
The issue of approximately 35,000 to 40,000 inbound containers at JNPA was discussed in a review meeting led by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, with representatives from the All India Liquid Bulk Importers and Exporters Association in attendance. According to reports, the backlog has arisen partly due to a shortage of lorry drivers necessary to handle the cargo. An official statement from the shipping ministry noted that the rerouting of containers bound for West Asia to JNPA has further exacerbated the pressure on port and logistics infrastructure.
