Stakeholders in the shipping industry voiced their anguish over bottlenecks like excessive regulations preventing ease of doing business for them at a roundtable of CEOs organised here in connection with the fifth edition of East Coast Maritime Business Summit on Thursday.
The industry representatives including Kale Logistics CEO Vineet Malhotra and Krishnapatnam Port Director (Container Terminal) Vinita Venkatesh sought pro-active measures to ensure ease of doing business and steps for faster evacuation of cargo.
Some of the representatives, including Sravan Shipping Services Managing Director G. Sambasiva Rao, suggested 100 per cent direct port delivery. Rajiv Aggarwal, a BOT operator, wanted more clarity on ending regulations by the authorities.
Issues of intelligence system, using technology for low-cost operations and integration of data were discussed. VCTPL CEO Sushil Mulchandani opined that data should be used for operational convenience.
In a presentation, Customs Commissioner S. Khader Rehman said Visakhapatnam, Krishnapatnam and Kakinada ports were functioning 24x7 and the Customs Department had simplified the procedures reducing the number of documents to just three for exports and imports within last one year.
He said they were giving clearances fast, digitised the data, introduced single window clearance and self-assessment and holding customers facilitation committee meetings once a month.
Visakhapatnam Port Deputy Chairman P.L. Haranadh was present at the roundtable..
