The Eastern Maritime Corridor is envisioned as a sea link between ports on the east coast of India and ports in the far-east region of Russia.
According to the Indian government, the corridor promises immense potential to unlock new trade opportunities and foster mutual economic prosperity and resilience.
The corridor is expected to reduce the time required to transport cargo between India and far-east Russia by up to 16 days, cutting the current 40-day travel time by almost half to 24 days. It is also expected to significantly reduce the distance by up to 40 per cent.
At present, the distance between the Mumbai Port and Russia’s Port of St. Petersburg, by the Western Sea Route via the Suez Canal, is 8,675 nautical miles, or 16,066 kilometres (km).
Meanwhile, the distance from the Chennai Port to Russia’s Vladivostok Port, via the Eastern Maritime Corridor, is only 5,647 nautical miles, or 10,458 Km.
As such, the Eastern Maritime Corridor is expected to lead to a saving of 5,608 Km in distance, as compared to the Western Sea Route. This will help in significantly reducing logistics cost and increasing efficiency in transportation of cargo between the two countries.
The savings in terms of time and fuel are also expected to increase the corridor’s viability and open up newer trade opportunities between India and Russia.
A government feasibility study has found that the corridor already holds great potential for trade in commodities such as coking coal, oil, fertilisers, containers, and liquefied natural gas.
The close and long-standing ties between India and Russia were elevated to the level of a ‘Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership’ in 2020.
The joint Indo-Russia endeavour to establish the Eastern Maritime Corridor, which was conceptualised during the second India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue held in Delhi in 2019, is seen as an example of this ‘special’ and ‘privileged’ nature of their partnership.
The corridor, which is meant to enhance connectivity, is part of the efforts by the two countries to further deepen and diversify bilateral trade and economic ties, which have been identified as priority areas by the leadership in New Delhi and Moscow.
New Delhi believes that the Chennai–Vladivostok Maritime Corridor, along with the India-Russia partnership for the development of the Northern Sea Route, and the full operationalisation of the International North-South Transport Corridor, will be a game changer for India-Russia trade and people-to-people connect.
During a special briefing on Friday on PM Modi’s visit to Russia and Austria, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said, “India-Russia bilateral trade has seen a sharp increase in 2023-24. It has since touched close to $65 billion, primarily due to strong energy cooperation between India and Russia.”
However, Kwatra pointed out that with Indian exports to Russia standing at $4 billion and Indian imports being close to $60 billion, “trade remains imbalanced”.
He added that this was “a matter of priority” in India’s discussions with the Russian side.
Source: Business Standard