AMCHAM India, in partnership with the Consulate General of the United States, Mumbai, organized a site visit to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust and interactive sessions with Chairman JNPT and Commissioners of Customs JNPT on Tuesday, 21st March 2017.

The site visit commenced with a briefing on the history and functions of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port and SEZ by Mr. Sittarasu, CEO-JNPT SEZ. The briefing was followed by a roundtable meeting with Mr. Anil Diggikar (IAS), Chairman, JNPT and senior members of JNPT SEZ. The meeting began with a brief presentation titled ‘JNPT- Anchor the Global Trade Together.’ Mr. Gregory Taevs, Principal Commercial Officer, U.S. Commercial Service and Ms. Surabhi Wahal, Regional Director Western Region, AMCHAM, thanked Mr. Diggikar, Mr. Sitarrasu and the JNPT team for the wonderful opportunity for the delegation to visit. Mr. Diggikar shared insights on the JNPT SEZ and port which is one of the most important priorities for the Ministry of Shipping, with a special focus on ‘port led industrialization.’ He shared that JNPT has notified multi-product Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Free Trade Warehousing Zone (FTWZ), just outside of the port boundaries, for which the foundation stone was laid by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Diggikar believed that the visit to the SEZ will help American companies get acquainted with their objective of making JNPT SEZ a successful project as well as would be instrumental in learning of the views of the participants that will help create a truly customer focused SEZ.

Some of the key highlights of JNPT SEZ include:

Location advantage – part of the greater Mumbai area, with established road and rail network
Minimal regulatory risks – SEZ is being setup in port owned land, no R&R issues for investors
Execution Certainty – master planning and engineering completed, utility and infrastructure development currently in advanced stage
Complete utility support – JNPT is providing uninterrupted power supply, water and road network right at the allotment stage itself
SEZ incentives – SEZ and FTWZ notifications received and tenants will be eligible for duty exemptions, tax exemptions and FDI norm relaxation
Dedicated SEZ cell – JNPT has created a dedicated SEZ cell to provide environmental and other SEZ clearances on the port and invited AMCHAM members to share their queries and suggestions in the ease of doing business at JNPT

The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Mark Martyn-Fisher, Director- Special Projects, UPS Jetair Express Pvt. Ltd. Excitement buzzed on a breezy ferry ride showcasing a sea side view of JNPT.

The delegation went on to meet with senior members of the Customs Department at the JNPT Customs House. The roundtable meeting with Mr. Subhash Agarwal (Commissioner of Customs – General), Mr. Mohanty (Commissioner of Customs – NS II), Mr. Shrawan Kumar (Commissioner of Customs – NS III) along with senior members of the department, had members sharing challenges as well as benefits of the ease of doing business at the JNPT port, over a candid interaction. As a follow up of the meeting, officials welcomed the idea of a consolidated note on challenges faced by companies to enable swifter and smoother operational ease wherever permissible. The meeting and events of the day concluded with closing remarks by Mr. Gregory Taevs and Ms. Surabhi Wahal who urged AMCHAM members to reach out to the U.S. Consulate and AMCHAM as a platform for support on the ease of doing business in India.