Finance Minister bats for arbitration centre for maritime sector

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday batted for setting up an international arbitration centre for the maritime sector. This, she said, will provide protection from international sanctions and pressures.

It will also ensure greater flexibility in the country's shipping operations, she said, while addressing the global maritime summit in Mumbai.

She noted that while there are many Indians working in international arbitration centres in London or Singapore or Dubai, they are all just working in subordinate roles there. This scenario, Sitharaman said, can be changed.

To achieve this, the country's arbitration laws need to be at par with global standards, she added, while underlining the need for an arbitration centre. On the need to improve financing to the maritime sector, she admitted that despite having a strong balance sheet, banks are not very keen on funding the sector, owing to higher risks involved in the maritime sector.

Sitharaman said she is in talks with public sector banks to have a more positive approach to this sector. I also want private sector lenders to look at shipping and maritime sectors more proactively. Meanwhile, she said that the turnaround time for Indian ports is far better than the ports of other countries.

"World Bank's logistics performance index report of 2023 says that turnaround time of Indian ports is now 0.9 days which is better than Singapore which is 1 day, UAE which is 1.1 days, Germany 1.3 days, USA 1.5 days, Australia 1.7 days, Russia 1.8 days and South Africa 2.8 days. India's overall rank in World Bank's logistics performance Index has also increased from 54 in 2014 to 38 in 2023," Sitharaman said.