Kolkota Diary-5

Sunday it was.

In Bongaon/Petropole, sun is out very early.

Crack of dawn is around five a.m.

Construction workers at the site behind my guest house are already at work.

Sun plays a bit hide and seek.

Working on Sunday? In India?

Is Sunday not a holiday in India?

"Not in Petropole," reminds the guest house desk hand.

Why?

"Because Bangladesh works on Sundays and it is closed on Fridays," I am told.

Oh! It takes me back to my Gulf days where we used to observe Fridays as weekly offdays and work on Sundays!

"For me, seven days' work," quips Deputy Commissioner of Customs Uttara Chand Das (see pix below. Extreme left), with two more years service left, in his chambers at Petropole, hardly 50 metres away from the Zero Land - linking India with Bangladesh.

How come?

"Look, my family lives in Kolkota (100 km away) and I live in Petropole in government guest house. Fridays when our offices here is closed, I have to rush to Kolkota for meeting with my seniors there. They don't work on Saturdays and Sundays. I leave for Kolkota on Thursday night, stay at my home, meet officials on Friday and return Saturday morning back to Petropole. So it is a 7-days week!", explains the portly, tall official who has served in the entire north east.

Das' take on life is interesting. Actually, this kind of lifestyle is not taxing, claims he.

How? "When you love your work and passionate, you don't notice the passage of time," says he.

Sitting in the huge hall where customs house agents are eagerly awaiting his signature on documents, already vetted, inspected and assessed by inspectors and superintendents, I look outside the giant window. Over 500 plus trucks - carrying Hero motorcycles, steel rods, girders, Caterpillar machines and what not - are standing in a long queue to exit out of the 17-acre CWC parking lot.

Das, who is holding additional charge of exports in the absence of the previous officer having shifted out, is spending more time in Exports building since, "exports are more important and the volume is also more compared to imports" as he points out.

The chirpy and most powerful - I wish to call him human dynamo - Kartik Chakraborty, Secretary of CHA union - (see at the start of this dispatch) ambles into Das's cabin. For a change, his eyewear is most noticeable thanks to the red frame. I pull his legs saying, "By mistake you have come into this field. You should be in Kollywood or Bollywood".

Catch hold of Kartik and your worries will vanish is what one hears everywhere. I heard his name in Delhi and then in Kolkota Customs and of course in Bongaon. The early 30s Bengali does not walk. He is always on a trot. Like his walk, his talk is also on a 'fast track'. Beautifully switching between Bengali, English and Hindi, he directs all and sundry. Even Das and his officers listen and respect him.

Out in the CWC Parking lot, he tells you so much about happenings you wish you can record every single word of his for a possible book on the Indo-Bangladesh trade through Petropole. At the export entry gate, he halts and gets us engaged with security officials. Then he quietly slips in a private security agent - Jeeban Kar - and when he begins to tell his tale, Kartik babu moves a few steps behind me to wink at him signalling 'not to tell more'. I catch him redhanded and he is embarassed.

"No, no. Jeeban, tell eveyrthing," he goads now. Very down to earth guy.

If anyone tells they have not heard of Kartik, don't beleive them. They are bluffing. He is so popular.

Past lunch, he ushers in three Bangladesh clearing and forwarding agents (see above) into the Das' office conference room for a frank talk with us. Indian side also present. Das along with his colleagues is also present. Sohrab Hussain, the only Bangladeshi with fluent Hindi, tells his side of tale, ably assisted by his seniors in Bengali.

By the time, the 90 minute meeting gets over, we have pinned issues that need quick redressal.

We step out of all meetings and find the Sunday sun has ready to bid goodbye.

A terrific Sunday it turned out to be.

Gentleman RTOs?

Sounds a bit like 'oxymoron', no doubt.

How can the attribute of gentlemanliness and RTO can go together?

In the good old days, they used to say that the specie called "gentleman communist" was non-existent. How can a gentleman be a communist or vice versa?  Similiarly, gentlemanliness or gentlewomanliness and RTO tribe can't coexist! Therefore it is an 'oxymoron'.

I had these thoughts buzzing through my mind  a few weeks ago, as I was traversing through southern Tamilnadu.

Actually I was visiting Ashok Leyland's Driver Training Institute (DTI) at Namakkal and in the course of chat with Surendran, Senior Manager in-charge of this faciilty, he dropped the name of Rajnikant. No, not the matinee idol who is deified in the entire Tamil nadu and boasts of a huge fan failling even in the Land of Rising Sun (Japan)!

I was told Rajnikant is a straightforward RTO manning from Namakkal.

What is so special about him? I demanded from my host.

"Meet him and then you will know," I was advised.

Soon I was motoring down to his office, situated behind the district collectorate, almost five kilometre from Leyland DTI.

The officer had graciously offered to pick me up which I accepted.

He had heard about my book, 10,000 KM on Indian Highways and also fully aware that I had labelled RTOs as "Highways Vultures".

Honestly, I was a bit scared of facing Rajnikant.

Given his uprightness and popularity among drivers' community, I felt like a criminal walking into a police station.

Over a cool glass of water, he began to unspool his experience as law enforcement officer on Tamilnadu highways.

His father, Ramakant, was equally renowned in Tamilnadu transport circles for his honesty and fair mindedness.

Like father, like son? Perhaps.

"There was a time when drivers when halted on highways, used to climb down with documents in tact, walk upto us waiting on the roadside, display documents page by page and wait for approval. Invariably, their papers used to be in tact and we used to sign off them in double quick time," said the moustachoied late forties gazetted officer, who has a fascination for vintage cars. He is credited with hosting an annual vintage car rally in Ooty until recently.

At times, he narrated, drivers who had exposure to working in the British time, walk in briskly, get their papers checked and before waking out, used to mouth, "God, bless you, my son!"

He was unspooling his father's and his own expeirence in Ooty where he had served several years before moving down to Namakkal.

From the look of the approaching driver, Rajnikant confides, he can make out that something is amiss. "I trust a lot on body language. It tells you everything even before talks gtranspire,' he adds.Most of the drivers will be shabbily dressed in lungis. Smell of liquor and beedies. Take it for granted that they will be ignorant what papers they carry. They have not been taught or shown and exlained by their supervisors at the loading bay the necessary details.

"When you see them, either sympathy or anger will swell," says he matter of factly.

Not all RTOs are dishonest and look for bribe, he asserts.

There are many like him - he does not say that - who have a spotless record.

Law abiding officers they are, except when political masters - read the ruling class - makes them turn a blind eye to blatant violation of rules and regulations.

We are helpless when we were told not to do certain things. Even if we try to follow the rules, it would be futile, he adds.

According to him, TVS drivers are the best lot. They know their onions. They are fullly aware of contents of papers/documents they are carrying.

You look at these documents and they are off in no time.

No harassment. Smooth passage for drivers with no fear or favour.

He demands an autographed copy of my book which I promised to send from the hotel room.

"Always remember that there are honest RTOs are also in the service. Dont tar all of us with the same brush," says he without any rancour. Amazing guy, indeed.


He reels out a set of names, which I quick jot down in my handbook for future contacts, whom I should meet to get the other side of the picture viz., the honest brigade.

Sometimes, if senior officials are serious, RTOs can do wonders. He cites the case of how lorries carrying sand - a big business in Tamilnadu - refused to cover the material which as is to be expected used to fly in all directions causing traffic disruptions to vehicles that are behind.

Under Rajnikant's instructions and with the district collector's full cooperation, he and his team were to ground all uncovered sand-carrying lorries. Despite initial protests, fleet owners have no other option but to fall in line with Rajnikant's 'cover-your-sand freight' diktat.


"It is a basic requirement and in the interest of all. However, this has somehow been sidestepped. How much extra it would cost to cover the sand with a tarpaulin or plastic cover?," asks he rhetorically.


Somehow, the Traffic Inspector who had halted the truck-on-truck freight of Ashok Leyland coming from Pant Nagar, Uttaranchal to Hosur,Tamilnadu and gingerly got his 'mamool' from my drivers crew flashed back on my memory. He had the gumption to demand that he be photographed with me on the highway and asked a copy be sent. Or how can I forget a lady officer who had halted us carrying polyester granules from Bangalore to Mangalore near Hassan and extracted her pound of flesh? Or the team in Uttar Pradesh on NH 2 near Kanpur were forced to challan for some unclear charges when they noticed my presence in one of the car carriers with Maruti Suzuki vehicles for delivery and learnt that I am a journalist?

There are people like Rajnikant. And there are people, unlike him.

It is mixed world. Isn't it?

Kolkota Diary-4

Suddenly I noticed the young man sitting atop the railing on the side of railway tracks near Santholia railway crossing. A few minutes ago, I had got down from the Tata Sumo with 23-year old Poonjanan Rana at the wheels when he had to halt due to the crossing gates down, denying passage to proceed.

This the first of the five railway crossings we had to encounter before we touched down at Bongaon, our destination over the next few hours. Alam and myself got out to stretch out limbs a bit. I crossed over the track and reached the other side and that is when I noticed Satwan atop the railing.

He quickly smiled when I helloed him and said: "What are you doing at this hour?" just as a conversation starter.

"Just like that," he replied without hesitation.

"From this village?"

"No. Am from Bareilley, Uttar Pradesh," he responded.

"Then, what are you doing here? Came from Bareilley to sit on the railing?" I joked.

He was not offended, but said: "This is my inlaws place."

"Oh! Visiting sasural! (inlaws)," I quipped.

He smiled as a response.

"Then, why are you sitting on the railing? Are you expecting someone in the train about to come?"

I asked because the station was hardly 100 metres away to his right from where he was sitting.

"Nothing of that sort. Just time-passing."

When queried further, Satwan said that his wife has also come along with him and she is at home assisting her mother in cooking.

Satwan, a farmer from Bareilley, did not find anything amiss in whiling away time looking at the railway on both sides and watching the few motorized rickshaws waiting on both sides to ferry passengers who may alight down at the station at whatever intervals.

"Instead of sitting at home, I decided to come here. My home is right across there," he pointed towards his left.

He may not be in his mid-twenties. Perhaps with no worries, he is deriving pleasure  just by sitting on the railings of a railway track. What is cooking in his mind? I wonder.

Am sure, he is least bothered by what anyone is thinking about him.

I recross the railway track since there is no sign of any approaching train.

There is a small tea shop and two men are smoking beedis and sipping tea from mud cups.

"How frequently trains pass through this track?" I ask generally.

They exchange glances and look at me.

"How does it matter?" one of them asks.

Yes, how does it matter.

Another set of carefree people.

Least worried - rightly so - about what happens around them.

What were they doing?

Nothing, pat comes the reply.

Why am I worried about what they are upto?

This nagging has to stop.

I smile and retreat.

I know this inquisitiveness will not go away. Maybe, its inborn or second nature.

Good or bad? Don't know.

***

Noticing the milestone on the National Highway 35 for the first time since leaving Kolkota more than an hour ago, asked Rana to halt. We were passing through Barasat, in 24 Parganas.

Actually, it was Rana who spotted the milestone and alerted us.

We failed to spot the milestone because it was half hidden behind wooden boxes kept on both sides.

The boxes contained some colourless broken clay idols.

I needed an establishment shot - a legacy gathered from TV news reporting to prove that the crew had actually been to the site which it claims to have gone! If anywhere to ask did I really travel in this region and on this stretch, I can flash this milestone with or without me in the frame as a proof. Silly, no doubt. If others don't believe, so what? But it is humane seeking approval of one's actions.

I shot a few frames of the milestone. Two youngsters came running towards and demanded that they also photographed. I obliged. I looked around and that's when I saw Juma Pal, the young girl sitting inside a hut with a boy, a lady and another gent.

"See there," someone said from behind. I turned around to see Parimol Pal, the lanky old, bald man, covering his lower half only.

The toothless man asked me to follow him a few steps from the high road into the hut.
It was a workshop where Juma and others were making idols from clay.

The girl looked quickly and avoided any further eye contact.

Parimol Pal began explaining his art of idol making. They were making not Kali maa, but Ganpati and Radha-Krishna pairs.

"Stopped going to school?" I asked Juma as she was introduced to me by the old man.

She nodded.

Why?

She did not respond.

"Are you happy doing this? Don't you miss your friends who are at school now?"

She looked up. Hesitated a few seconds.

"I studied upto seventh class."

Then why did she stop?

"No money at home to send me to school," she replied.

"She is gainfully employed," chipped in Parimol Pal, her uncle.

Is she?

I preferred silence.

How cruel is this world?

Why this young girl be denied of education beyond what she had done?

What is her father? Is he alive or .....

How much she must be making through this idol making?

The boy, slightly elder to Juma, waved at me with a request to photograph him.

I did.

The woman and man at the back busy with their work also posed for some photos.

I thanked them and walked out.

Who am I question them?

What makes me think that Juma's life will not be good because she has discontinued her education?

My mother's face flashed instantly. She did not study beyond class five.

Her younger brother - my uncle - used to narrate at times how my mother was such a dullard that she did not know even how to copy from his slate in exams. Yes, they studied in same class, before he moved forward.

If only she had studied a little hard ....

If only she had learnt how to copy at least ....

If only she was educated adequately, she would not have been duped by her inlaws to  affix her chicken scrawl signature on property documents - that she did not and could not read and assimilate -that belonged to herlate husband - my father - and rightfully would have been hers - and mine today.

Eyes welled up.

I looked back at Juma and found her hazy image.

I wish she does not become like my mother.

Kolkota Diary-3

Travel expands mindspace is something like a credo to me.

New  surroundings. New set of people. New food tastes. New language. New challenges and new responses.

Yes, there is a lot of''new'ness in travel.

On Day 2 in Kolkota, the die was cast that we would be heading for Petropole - on the Indo-Bangladesh border -  for meeting with Customs Station staff on Saturday. Chief Commissioner of Customs Smt B D Dasgupta categorically warned: "Don't ask for meeting on Friday. It is a holiday across the border. So for our team too. And if you ask for Friday meet, then I have to pull them out of their homes on a holiday. I won't do that."

So, we decided to travel to Bongaon (less than 10 km before Petropole) and lodge ourselves for Friday night and reach Land Customs Station on Saturday first half after prefixing the appointment.

Having done that, we slept Thursday in a Salt Lake guest house for the second night as it was drizzing the whole night - was it? - and woke up Friday morning for the usual tea on the roadside stall and some veg puff and water at the nearby Sweets & Spice eatery.

Checked out just in time as the Tata Sumo arrived.

The next four hours offered such a panoramic countryside view of West Bengal. Blanket green on the entire stretch which I never imagined. Absar Alam, my companion, recalled the Bengal Famine and we chatted on that issue for a while. According to him, India has faced several famines - one worse than the other. If he were to be believed, there were famines even during Emperor Ashoka's reign, Akbar's and the British. Each time, it was a nightmare fighting famine due to poor distribution system that prevailed then.

Many towns and villages which were just tiny or marginally larger dots on the India map became actual spots that we crossed.

From Salt Lake upto Rajhat Main Road, it was a typical 4 lane, landscaped road. It ought to be because the road leads to Dum Dum Airport.  Our Bengali driver kept reminding us that the vast expanse that we were passing by was once upon a time a huge lake and he explained how a local firm bought the entire stretch of lake and filled it up and then sold large swathes of it to various construciton companies.

We could see brisk construction of huge residential and official towers on both sides.

"The potential buyers or occupiers of these flats will never know - unless they are curious - what this place was before their building came about," quipped Absar Alam. Does development mean destroying something natural like a lake? he asked no one in particular..

Suddenly, our passage to Bongaon turned into a narrow and congested road. For a while, we rode on that stretch before everything opened up. There wast a vast open space on both sides. Road was being laid with broken bricks. Over that, a bit of mud was thrown and above that bitumen  (liquid tar) was sprinkled. Am sure, they will throw some more mud/sand and run the road roller and call it that the road is ready!

We halted for a chat with some women workers on highways (see picture above). They said they were working for the past 18 months and no idea how long the work will go on. Driver commented that it would go on and on because the length of road to be laid was very huge and work was happening very slowly.

And there were large water presence on both sides. We learnt these were fish farms. Alam stepped out to click some snaps. Later he confided that back home (in Bihar), his family is into fish farming.

(to be continued)

Kolkota Diary-2

Day 2 began on a pleasant note with constant drizzle and occasional short bursts of heavy downpour. Our day's programme was structured to contact government officials who can help us gain authentic information and provide access to land customs stations about indo-bangladesh trade inputs (commoditywise and route wise) and link up officials at Petropole, situated approx. 100 km from Kolkota.

With an introductory letter from Delhi, we landed up with Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics of Ministry of Finance and Department of Revenue at Anandpur area of Kolkota. After a short wait, we met Dr Amitava Saha, Director, and he was more than willing to 'sell' these intelligence inputs for a price - officially, that is.

So long as authentic information is available for a price about anything in India and from Government, I have no hesitation in procuring it. It is altogether another matter that there is a tendency to gain access to these inputs free of cost.

I strongly believe that information is invaluable. Authentic information, more so. The very fact that government which has ultimate access to all legal transactions between these two SAARC nations through surface, air or ocean from various entry/exit points has seen the possibilty of selling these inputs for a price is truly laudable for a variety of reasons.

No doubt, these inputs are definitely accessed by the Planning Commission and relevant ministries at the federal level for formulating policy framework. Similarly research outfits and think tanks should also be ready to buy these inputs to gain an alternate insight into these data and come up with their own policy outline.

Dr Saha briefed us about the procedure to acquire inputs and indicated a 10 day timeframe to provide us the information we were seeking. While DGCI&S would provide us all-India figures, interaction with LCS at Petropole is under the jurisdiction of Kolkota Customs.

Later we moved to Kolkota Customs on the Howrah/Babagarh/Strand Road front. Smt B D Dasgupta, Chief Commissioner of Customers, Kolkota, entertained us and she was already familiar with colleague Absar Alam who had a quick visit to Petropole a few weeks ago.

We subequently met Mr Gurmeet Singh,Commissioner, who had assumed charge only recently and he had already been briefed by Smt Dasgupta over phone in our presence at her office. He is yet to visit Petropol, yet he shared his inputs heard from others with us. He also sought our feedback when we are back.

He has linked us with Assistant Commissioner at Petropol (U C Dass) and categorically stated not to visit on Friday which is a weekly day off on the Bangladesh side and hence there will be very little happening on the Indian side as well.

***
Living in Salt Lake guest house was fine, but searching for early morning tea/coffee was difficult. Barrring roadside tea-cum-eating joints that open up at 5 in the morning, even guest houses don't operate their kitchen before 7 a.m. If you are an early riser and want your hot cuppa soon after you wake up, you had it. I faced this challenge. But gingerly stepped out for a roadside tea.

By the way, the cost of tea varies between Rs.3 and Rs.4.  Yes, you can buy a tea for less than five Rupees in Kolkota. You can have your tea in: small earthern cups, plastic ones or glass ones. You're asked about your choice. Wow!

Except Delhi, you can see the circulation of one rupee and two rupee coins more frequently! A friend said, Delhi is not a "chillar party"! I have been seen this in Chennai, Mumbai and elsewhere.

After every trip outside Delhi I had invariably returned with at least 50 rupees worth of coins! Only to be shunned by shop keepers and DTC bus drivers when you hand over these coins. Even they prefer five rupee coins or notes in any denomination. Big boys!

***

Can't help talking about yellow Ambi cabs in Kolkota. They are dare devils. Like mosquitoes .... sorry, they are everywhere. Omnipresence. Omnipotent! Like mosquitoes. Like God, if you wish. All taxis are metered and we did not come across even a single cab driver negotiating a price for any destination. Printed receipts are promptly given when asked for at the end of each journey! Even racing horses feel shy of competing against Kolkota cabs.

Though I enjoy traveling in Ambassador because it is spacious and comfortable, these Kolkotan cabbies pray for safe passage.

Kolkota roads offer a unique picture: there are trams (British legacy!); there are private mini buses. there are state transport buses; there are yellow cabs; autorickshaws; cyclerickshaws; and, hold your breathe, even handpulled rickshaws. all these compete for roadspace and you can imagine the chaotic scenario. add private cars of all dimensions, motorcycles, cycles  and pedestrians.

***
Talking about the daredevilry of kolkota cabbies, we had a personal expeirence. While returning from Kolkota Customs, it began to rain. Passing through Lenin Sarani, narrow road, you have tram tracks on both sides. our cabbie more or less hit a motorcylist who was thrown out of his vehicle, he flew into space for a short while before landing on the ground with a thump. I jumped out and rushed to the victim. His motorcycle carromed off to go under a stationary public transport bus that had also stopped. the entire traffic came to a standstill. two traffic policemen in the vicinity came running. one quickly flipped his notebook open. Public also gathered. Someone helped the victim to get up and his hands were bleeding and there were some scratches. While all attention was on the victim and the melee in the middle  of the road, my cabbie (I suspect he hit the victim from behind) quitely slipped out leaving me behind.

it was raining and we were all getting drenched. my colleague was inside the cab. Once convinced that victim is not dead, I moved out of the crowd and began looking for my cab. From a distance, I could make out, he was jumping a red signal and dashing across. Maybe he does not want to be stopped and slapped with a police chargesheet. Don't know.

At a distance of 200 metres he halted the cab, waiting for me. My colleague craned his neck out and waved at me. I got in and asked cabbie as to why did he not stop because he has hit him. He said, it is not his fault. The victim was driving very slowly leaving no space for other vehicles and therefore he was hit from behind. What a logic!

I told my cabbie, had this happened in Delhi and if the cabbie tried to run, public would have halted and bashed him up. He did not respond. Maybe he was lucky to skip out any mess.

While it took us almost one hour to reach Kolkota Customs while going, this daredevilry cabbie brought us home in less than 30 minutes. No doubt, he might have taken some short cut. But he was jumping red signals and driving as if he was possessed. Well, this is Kolkota!

Kolkota Diary-1

Am not new to Kolkota, the original imperial capital chosen for managing India by the British. I had come here six years ago as part of tapping talent from eastern India for my Oman-based United Media Services. Times of India Resident Editor Robin Roy (now at Jaipur working for the same publication) was at the Dum Dum airport - what a name! -  to receive and escort me during the two day visit. It was a memorable visit in terms of finding a gem of a person like Robin. About my friendship witih Robin, another time.

This time, around the visit has to be with the study of infrastructural and procedural challenges faced by Indian exporters in pushing stuff to Bangladesh through road. West Bengal's Petropole is the biggest entry point, accounting for 60% of all Indian stuff that crosses into our SAARC neighbour - legally that is. About illegal ways, maybe in another dispatch. With Research Fellow Absar Alam, thirtyish post graduate in economics from Bihar working for Asian Institute of Transport Development, funded by United Nations and accessed regularly by Planning Commission, we have landed in Kolkota for 3-4 weeks stay.

The previous study was done in 2005 and between then and now, there are several positive changes had taken place and both of us here to 'see', 'experience' and 'document'. While Alam has an excellent economics and mathematical grounding, my utility is perceived to be on my linkages with truckers, freight forwarders and several years of business/economic journalistic background. Added to this was the grand reception to my maiden book, 10,000 KM on Indian Highways particularly among the logistics and supply chain domain experts, ministry of road transport & highways and anyone and everyone linked to this sector.

After all, a vast country like INdia's domestic trade and commerce is handed by road transport to the tune of 70%, thanks to the poor marketing and red-tapism prevalent in Railways bureaucracy. Rail, according to pundits, is likely to lose further.

Contrary to Delhi's searing 43 degree Celsius burning heat, our arrival in Kolkota was greeted with constant drizzle and cloudly weather. It was a big relief.

Even before could find the guest house where Alam has got himself positioned 24 hours in advance in Salt Lake area (nice and quiet area), IBM Supply Chain Biggie Anindya Gupta (whom I had known only through emails and phone calls and who had become my constant source of information about east and north east thanks to he having read one of my Road Trip pieces on the web more than a year ago), was physically present to receive me along with Arup Chanda, an ex-colleague from BITV days and now publishing East India Logistix.

In fact, Anindo stood in the long queue to get a prepaid taxi while Arup stood on Sealdah platform when the sky had opened up heavily! What a welcome! Thanks, Anido & Arup!

After a lot of fighting and slanging match in Bengali and Hindi with the taxi desk, we managed to hop onto a yellow-topped Ambassador cab for Salt Lake restobar. Over food, we yak-yaked for almost 2 hours before Anindo looked at the watch to indicate that it is time for him to scoot to work!

Luckily, the guest house was hardly 5 minutes ride away in a cycle rickshaw.

The first meeting was with Samar Jha, the recently retired Member (Finance) of Railway Board. He is supposed to be our local guardian and mentor. Over hot tea and kachoris, he treated us at his Jadhavpur University Road flat, with its twin pets keeping a close vigil on us.

Poring our documents prepared by Alam, we discussed the action plan for the next few weeks and promised to meet soon after first round of calls and visit to Petropole, approx. 100 km away from Kolkota.

By night, the weather has become muggy and even with open windows of Amby cab, we are sweating profusely.

Quick dinner and a bit of planning for engagements for next day followed.

Before hitting bed, Alam gave a 18 page document for me to read and be prepared for a discussion with him next morning.

I decided to taste that after a good night's sleep.

(cont'd)

Road Transport, the bright future-4

Ramesh Kumar*

Over the past few days, I have been poring over the “Report of Working Group on Road Transport for the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17)” released recently. It is an interesting document and felt I will not be able to do justice to this precious tome in one single long piece. Moreover, to retain the attention span of potential readers, the offerings have to be in small doses. Like it is said that even the tastiest pizza has to be cut into small pieces to be cherished. Small indeed is beautiful and meaningful. Here is the Fourth Installment. Check out http://goo.gl/2KeOU to read the First Installment; access  http://goo.gl/4x073 to read the Second Installment and http://goo.gl/TmWXJ to read the Third Installment.

Fleet modernization assumes importance if India has to improve efficiency all-around. Considering the fact that the fleet owners, by and large, are small and marginal operators with the fleet strength of 5 or 10 and it is still an unorganized sector, they need financial incentives to buy new vehicles. Bank loans are hard to come by, forcing them to knock on the doors of non-banking financial institutions where the cost of borrowing is pretty stiff. Therefore, the Working Group’s attention to this issue is noteworthy.

It says, “some options to modernize the vehicle fleet in the country by replacing the older vehicles with newer ones with better technology and lower emissions need serious consideration. These include incentives to owners of commercial vehicles older than 15 years to modernize their fleet, encourage owners of private vehicles older than 15 years to replace their vehicles through a suitable tax regime, a vehicle recycling policy and drastic improvement in the inspection and certification regime.”

Does it have anything specific in mind? It does. Rightly it hits on the issue of taxation as one of the palliative tools to weed out older trucks from highways. “Vehicle taxation is road damage-related but levied on the basis of gross vehicle weight rather than on potential axle loads, resulting in under-taxation of two axle trucks compared to multi axle vehicles or MAVs. Since the former is a major source of revenue to states, there is need for its rationalization, to ensure that the tax burden is distributed fairly among different types of vehicle according to Passenger Car Units as well as the road damage caused by each type of vehicle, according o the equivalent standard axle or ESL. Motor vehicle taxes could be used to encourage the plying of MAVs,” it says.

Dwelling on MAVs, the Working Group adds: “MAV (gross tonnage including weight of the truck of over 16.2 tonnes) are cheaper to operate compared to smaller trucks i.e. medium commercial vehicles and light commercial vehicles, by over 25%. In fact, cost per ton KM for 25 ton truck and 30 ton truck is estimated at 85% and 75% respectively relate to a 16 ton truck, according to a McKinsey 2010 report. The incremental cost of a MAV can be recovered in less than three years;. Measures to promote the use of MAVs could be considered including excise duty reductions for MAVs similar to small and fuel efficient cars, stringent monitoring of overloaded trucks and enforcing pollution and safety norms, which could lead to retirement of old trucks.”

It is pertinent here to draw attention to Ernst & Young’s latest report on 'Mega trends shaping the Indian commercial vehicle market’. It says that the Indian commercial vehicle market will double to 1.6 million units in next five years thanks to the increase in infrastructure spend, rapid urbanisation and entry of major multinational players in the country.

TATA Motors & Ashok Leyland continues to dominate the domestic truck scene in India with a combined market share of over 85-90% and rest of the players making up the rest of the pie. According to the report, the stakeholders across the Indian CV industry are likely to be impacted by rapidly changing events right from the operating environment, fleet operator/ manager preferences, competition, distribution channel and also supply chain.

Moreover, the development of road infrastructure enables OEMs to introduce higher power vehicles. By 2012, the modernization of roads under the NHDP (National Highway Development Program) is expected to involve a total investment of USD 47.2 billion." The report identifies six mega trends that will impact the revenues, costs and profitability of participants in the Indian commercial vehicle industry.

E&Y report said that going ahead fleets will focus on capacity utilisation to reduce operating costs and diversify customer base. The fleet operators will opt for higher tonnage multi axle trucks and rely on usage of telematics and will focus on the total cost of ownership.

The rapid urbanization, improving road infrastructure and regulatory policies will influence CV buyers and OEMs. By 2050, at least five states are expected to be predominantly urban and 12 cities in India with population of more than 2 million are expected to get metro rail.

Global majors will redefine brand position in the market while domestic companies will build R&D competence and optimize costs through outsourcing and modularization. The key stake holders, suppliers will improve local capacity and invest in R&D while improving operational efficiency and developing an aftermarket proposition. The companies will tackle manpower, economic and supply chain risks through skill development, production localization and supplier collaboration

The Ernst & Young study concludes that the competition among commercial vehicle manufacturers in India is expected to intensify as international OEMs raise the bar in terms of technology, quality, durability and reliability; while domestic OEMs invest to upgrade products and technology, strengthen dealer relationships and loyalty, reinforce distribution networks and build new competencies to defend their market shares.

All said and done, exciting times are ahead for India.

(To be continued)

·         Author of 10,000 KM on Indian Highways, Publisher of Supply Chain India and Consulting Editor of SAARC Journal of Transport