New Delhi: In order to boost indigenous manufacturing under Atmanirbhar Bharat and tighten the noose further on Chinese imports, state-run Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) has launched the process for manufacturing containers in India and is set to float an open tender for 7,000 containers. CONCOR has already handed a work order for developing 1,000 containers to Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and Braithwaite. The containers are expected to be ready for testing soon and results are scheduled to be made available by March-end.
Until now, CONCOR was importing about 10,000 containers in a year from China. At a high-level meeting held in December 2020, it was decided that these orders will now be routed to BHEL and Braithwaite.
In order to give a push to Atmanirbhar Bharat, CONCOR is set to float an open tender for meeting the requirement of 7,000 more containers. "Our annual requirement will be around 8,000 containers for the next five years. We are going to float an open tender, inviting domestic manufacturers for this," said CONCOR CMD V Kalyana Rama.
In the aftermath of the Galwan standoff, India had decided to curtail imports from China, while placing a total ban on imports in critical sectors like power and telecom, as part of a wider response to Chinese aggression. The decision to ask BHEL and Braithwaite to step in and manufacture containers was taken in view of this shift in policy. CONCOR was spending around Rs 200 crore on importing containers from China every year.
The government's plan to manufacture containers in India has elicited interest from multi-modal logistics companies and other stakeholders in the sector. While steel behemoths like SAIL, Tata Steel and Jindal Steel have confirmed availability of better grade steel, Kalyani Cast Tech, Balmer Lawrie, Transafe, DCM Hyundai have assured that they have the technology required to manufacture these containers.
Container inspection agencies like Lloyd Register and Indian Register of Shipping are also working with some Indian manufacturers to ensure production of world-class containers.
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