Essays on Dry Ports

Due to several reasons, currently the global supply chains are getting stretched further away into the hinterlands from the gateway seaports. This single fact enhances the importance of dry ports. It would not be against logic, to state that in coming times, as a result of ever-growing quest for satisfying the customers, improving quality, cutting transaction costs the dry ports will assume greater importance than sea ports, hence a study of this phenomenon assumes importance. Post financial crisis, India along with China and Brazil have acquired global attention due to consistent economic growth and most importantly its perceived ability to pull the world out of recession. There are quite a few similarities in all the three countries apart from demography produce and landmass. The chief amongst them is overwhelming quest for growth and suitable policies being adopted to satisfy the growth. It is but obvious that the dry ports will play a major role in the growth stories of all three countries. This thesis looks at the dry ports in India from different perspectives such as locational analysis, role of government in development of dry ports and need for Public Private Partnerships (PPP), regulating dry port competition and role of regulatory authorities, environmental externalities and dry port efficiency, factors affecting dry port performance and lastly container security at dry ports. The contention behind the compilation of overtly disparate dry port related topics is that every aspect has a clear but subtle bearing on other for e.g. competition policy has an impact on dry port performance. Similarly container security and environmental impact are related to the overall efficiency of the dry port. The importance of location of a dry port cannot be over emphasized and is directly related to the dry port performance.