With a population of 1.2 billion and the world's third largest economy, India remains significantly underrepresented as a player in global trade, and that is something APM Terminals CEO Kim Fejfer is eager to change.

"The opportunities for development throughout India, one of the world's largest and fastest - growing economies, are exciting and energising and APM Terminals is committed to being a part of that growth," stated Fejfer, while speaking to local business leaders and customers as part of a keynote address at the India Ports Conference in Mumbai recently.

Although the Indian economy expanded by an estimated 7.8 per cent in 2011 to $1.8 trillion ($4.4 trillion when adjusted for purchasing power parity, behind only USA and China), India ranked 13th in imports and 21st in exports globally last year. South Asia, which includes Pakistan and Bangladesh, represented only 3 per cent of global container throughout in 2011, according to estimates by Alpha Liner, with combined container volume of 18 million TEUs, four million less than the Port of Shenzhen, China.

Throughput at India's ports accounted for 9.7 million TEUs in 2011, or one twelfth of what global container traffic averages based on economic output would suggest as necessary to meet the economy's needs. In his presentation, Fejfer estimated the infrastructure investment necessary to enable projected growth at $20 billion.

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust is India's busiest container port, accounting for nearly 45 per cent of all Indian containerised cargo traffic. It is the 25th busiest container port in the world, with throughput of 4.3 million TEUs in 2011. APM Terminals Mumbai handled an estimated 1.9 million TEUs in 2011.

Congestion and capacity issues at Indian ports have begun to affect trade growth, as existing container terminals are at 84 per cent capacity and above, and access to inland points remains inadequate. The Indian government is determined to promote infrastructure growth and had projected JNPT container throughput to increase to 11 million TEUs by 2016 and 23 million TEUs by 2020, as called for in the latest 10-Year Plan released by the Ministry of Shipping.

Fejfer pointed out that private sector involvement would be a crucial component of this growth if the investment and regulatory environment in India did not act as constraints.

"Port tariff regulations which penalise increased throughput and productivity will not assist in developing the needed infrastructure," added Fejfer.

In addition to Mumbai, APM Terminals also operates APM Terminals Pipavav in Gujarat.