New cargo facility at Mumbai airport expects 8pc annual growth
10.06.2016
The new domestic cargo terminal at Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), near Western Express Highway in Vile Parle, expects business to grow annually by between seven and eight per cent with the surge in e-commerce business, which currently accounts for about 75-80 per cent of the total domestic cargo business of MIAL, according to Shipping Gazette.
The estimate was presented by senior officials of MIAL during the recent launch of a common user terminal (CUT) for domestic air cargo operations, according to Mumbai's Daily News & Analysis (DNA).
The CUT has been outsourced to Concor Air Ltd on build-operate-transfer basis and the project has the capacity to handle 300,000 tonnes of cargo annually.
"The need to upscale air cargo facility was necessitated in view of an increased growth in the domestic air cargo business in the last three years with the rise in e-commerce," said a senior MIAL official on the sidelines of the event.
A recent study by trade association body Assocham estimated the likely size of the e-commerce industry in the country at over US$38 billion by 2016, a 67 per cent jump over 2015.
The e-commerce industry was $17 billion in 2014 and a mere $3.8 billion in 2009, when it was in a fledgling state. After taking over the redevelopment work of city airport in 2006, MIAL had commissioned an offshore CUT near Marol pipeline in the FY 2010-2011 as a temporary arrangement.
At present, only Air India and Bluedart handle their own domestic cargo operations, while Jet airways has reportedly shifted its operations to the newly launched CUT in Vile Parle.
Though the global freight industry has been in a stagnation in recent times due to slowdown in global economies, the Indian freight transport market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4 per cent by 2020 driven by the growth in the manufacturing, retail, FMCG and e-commerce sectors, another Assocham report said in December last.
The estimate was presented by senior officials of MIAL during the recent launch of a common user terminal (CUT) for domestic air cargo operations, according to Mumbai's Daily News & Analysis (DNA).
The CUT has been outsourced to Concor Air Ltd on build-operate-transfer basis and the project has the capacity to handle 300,000 tonnes of cargo annually.
"The need to upscale air cargo facility was necessitated in view of an increased growth in the domestic air cargo business in the last three years with the rise in e-commerce," said a senior MIAL official on the sidelines of the event.
A recent study by trade association body Assocham estimated the likely size of the e-commerce industry in the country at over US$38 billion by 2016, a 67 per cent jump over 2015.
The e-commerce industry was $17 billion in 2014 and a mere $3.8 billion in 2009, when it was in a fledgling state. After taking over the redevelopment work of city airport in 2006, MIAL had commissioned an offshore CUT near Marol pipeline in the FY 2010-2011 as a temporary arrangement.
At present, only Air India and Bluedart handle their own domestic cargo operations, while Jet airways has reportedly shifted its operations to the newly launched CUT in Vile Parle.
Though the global freight industry has been in a stagnation in recent times due to slowdown in global economies, the Indian freight transport market is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.4 per cent by 2020 driven by the growth in the manufacturing, retail, FMCG and e-commerce sectors, another Assocham report said in December last.
