APM-Maersk charts 'bold' India plans

Denmark's $55 billion shipping conglomerate AP Moller-Maersk has announced a $2 billion plan to invest in India, focusing on Pipavav Port, owned by its subsidiary APM Terminals, and other initiatives spread across verticals in the maritime economy.

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With India’s latest ₹70,000 crore maritime development plan and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call to global industry to invest, senior executives from the Danish giant — Christopher Cook, managing director of Maersk South Asia, and Jonathan Goldner, chief executive, APM Terminals Asia & Middle East — share their plans in an interview with Dhruvaksh Saha in Mumbai. Edited excerpts:

The Indian maritime sector recently witnessed a spate of policy and regulatory changes. How does Maersk view these developments?

■Cook: The demand for shipping comes from what customers are producing. With things like production-led incentives, I can see the derisking of supply chains with more businesses producing in India. This means more capacity is needed. We have expanded our capacity significantly. We have expanded our service in Europe and North America to support that. The incentives to improve manufacturing are lifting demand here. We have flagged two of our ships under the Indian flag as there is an opportunity in terms of normalisation of cabotage. We are also looking at container manufacturing and are already recycling vessels in Alang. Investment in the maritime sector will make things easier.