<p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The government is preparing a plan to deploy special vessels to West Asia to help Indian exporters move goods at significantly lower freight rates, as the Hormuz disruption continues to make agricultural shipments to the region economically unviable . The Commerce Department is working with agencies including the Shipping Corporation of India, which was on the privatisation list until recently, to operate these vessels at rates that could be nearly half the current market levels .</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The freight rates that the plan is designed to address are prohibitive for many exporters. Freight to West Asia currently stands in the region of $3,000–3,500 per 20-foot equivalent unit for dry cargo, and $4,500–6,000 for refrigerated units . The government is eyeing rates that could be nearly half those levels to make it viable for Indian exporters . For several markets in the region, exporters have reported that freight rates are now higher than the cost of the goods themselves, making it impossible to ship profitably .</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The operational model reflects the constraints imposed by the Hormuz crisis. With the Strait of Hormuz remaining inaccessible, the special vessels may dock at alternative ports, and from there goods may be shipped by road, as is already being done for certain markets . This multimodal approach—sea to an alternative port, then road to the final destination—is more complex and slower than direct Gulf routing, but it is the only viable option while the strait remains contested. The Shipping Corporation of India will provide ships as needed, while CONCOR ensures enough containers are available .</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The cargo focus is explicitly agricultural. The plan is designed to give a major push to agricultural products, from perishables such as onions, bananas, and other fruits and vegetables to rice and tea . APEDA, which is tasked with farm exports, will lead cargo aggregation efforts, including identifying and roping in exporters who want to avail themselves of the plan . This aggregation function is critical: the special vessels require sufficient cargo to fill their capacity, and individual exporters may not have enough volume to justify dedicated services. By consolidating cargo from multiple exporters, APEDA can create the scale needed to make the service economically viable.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The policy process has moved through the appropriate channels. DGFT has held consultations on the issue, and the involvement of multiple agencies—Commerce Department, SCI, CONCOR, DGFT, and APEDA—indicates that the plan is being coordinated across the government rather than being driven by a single ministry . The timing reflects the urgency of the export situation: agricultural exporters have been losing market share in West Asia as freight costs have made their goods uncompetitive, and the plan is an attempt to restore viability before the damage becomes permanent.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">For India's agricultural export sector, the plan offers a potential lifeline. Onion exporters in Nashik and other producing regions have been particularly affected by the freight cost surge, and the government's separate decision to reduce railway freight charges for onions and foodgrains is a complementary measure that addresses the domestic leg of the supply chain . The special vessel plan addresses the international leg, and together they form a package of interventions designed to keep Indian agricultural goods competitive in West Asian markets.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The broader context is the reorientation of India's West Asia trade logistics. The Hormuz crisis has disrupted the traditional direct shipping routes, and the government's response—special vessels, alternative ports, road connections—is an attempt to rebuild the corridor on different terms. Whether this model can be sustained beyond the crisis is uncertain, but for now it represents a practical response to a situation where the normal market mechanism has failed to provide affordable freight for agricultural exporters.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">Looking ahead, the key milestones will be the identification of the alternative ports, the finalisation of freight rates with SCI, the aggregation of cargo by APEDA, and the commencement of the first voyages. The plan's success will depend on whether the reduced freight rates are sufficient to restore exporter viability and whether the multimodal routing can deliver goods to West Asian markets within acceptable timeframes. For Indian farmers and exporters, the initiative is a recognition that the Hormuz crisis is not just a shipping problem but a trade problem, and that solving it requires government intervention to restore the economics of exporting to one of India's most important regional markets.</span></p>