NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at reducing India’s dependence on other countries for export-import (EXIM) containers due to any global disruption, shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Friday launched India’s first EXIM grade container. Global shipping major AP Moller–Maersk placed an order for 1,000 India-manufactured shipping containers.The EXIM shipping container has been manufactured in India for the company at the Maersk-CONCOR Inland Container Depot in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. ”The unveiling of the first India-manufactured EXIM shipping container for a leading global shipping line is a defining milestone in our journey towards Atmanirbhar Bharat. It reflects the growing confidence of global industry in India’s manufacturing capabilities and our commitment to building world-class maritime infrastructure,” Sonowal said.Maersk placed the order for containers with DCM Shriram Group. The ministry said the first India-manufactured container has been produced in accordance with internationally accepted quality and safety standards, including ISO specifications and the International Convention for Safe Containers (CSC), making it suitable for global deployment.This aligns with govt’s efforts to promote domestic manufacturing through policy interventions, including the Rs 10,000 crore Container Manufacturing Promotion Scheme (CMPS) framework announced in the Budget for domestic container manufacturing.Sonowal said the scheme envisages an annual manufacturing capacity boost by 10 times upto 7.5 lakh twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs), supported through capital assistance, operational incentives, research, testing and technology development.
