FFFAI to organise INSTC Conference in December with Ministry of Commerce & Industry

India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recommended a follow up conference based on the Dry Run study report on the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) submitted by the FFFAI recognising the opportunity and potential for India’s export and import though this new trade route. The INSTC Transport Corridor is 30 percent cheaper and 40 percent shorter than the current traditional route. The conference is scheduled for December 22 in Mumbai. The project has received impetus owing to the much-awaited INSTC trade route through Iran being set in motion, with New Delhi, Tehran, Moscow and 10 other nations at a recent meeting in Delhi approving draft transit and customs agreements, which will provide the legal framework for moving freight on ship-rail-road route linking India, Iran, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. Guruprasad Mohapatra, joint secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry highlighted that the INSTC conference would help foster trade awareness. In this regard, Shankar Shinde, vice chairman of Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India (FFFAI), Sohel F Kazani, executive committee member, FFFAI and C Ramkumar, under secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, travelled to Iran to assess the existing logistics infrastructure. The dry run study was conducted with 2x20 feet containers on two routes, Nhava Sheva - Bandar Abbas (Iran) – Baku (Azerbaijan) and Nhava Sheva - Bandar Abbas (Iran) – Amirabad (Iran) – Astrakhan (Russia) via Caspian Sea. FFFAI will organise the conference with participation of stakeholders, inviting chambers of commerce, forwarders, shipping lines, port, and government officials from 13 countries member of the INSTC. This will help in the dissemination of information to the member countries of the developments on INSTC and also provide a B2B platform for the participants to connect.