India’s Rs 10,000 Cr Container Scheme Doesn't Reduce China Dependence

By Dev Chandrasekhar

On October 28, the Union Cabinet approved a Rs 10,000 crore Container Manufacturing Promotion Scheme to incentivise Indian factories to make the steel boxes that carry most of the country's trade.

The scheme was first announced in the February Budget. In August, the government said the money would be spent over five years. The Cabinet version spreads it to 2039-40, about 13 years.

That stretch turns a short sprint into a long, thin subsidy. It comes four months after DCM Containers, a Faridabad manufacturer, built India's first export-grade box for Maersk, the Danish shipping line. 

What India has not yet shown is that it can make the parts that go into that container. The scheme, as published, does not ask it to. 

A Box India Borrows From China

A shipping container is a standard steel crate, 20 or 40 feet long, built to international (ISO) rules so the same box fits any ship, train or truck. Capacity is counted in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), the industry's standard measure, in which a 20-foot box counts as one TEU and a 40-foot box as two.

India imports nearly 2 million empty containers a year to carry its exports, according to the government. Almost all of them are made in China, which, by one industry estimate, builds 97% of the world's boxes.

That dependence costs most in a crisis. 

In July, amid this year's West Asia disruption, a Coimbatore shipping agent described an exporter who booked a Kochi-to-Iraq shipment for $1,500 and ended up paying nearly $50,000 to secure an empty box.

A country that makes none of its own containers takes its place in someone else's queue.

The idea has taken nearly six years to reach the Cabinet. 

In December 2020, with boxes scarce after the pandemic, state-owned BHEL and Braithwaite were lined up to make 1,000 containers each for Container Corporation of India (CONCOR), the government's rail freight arm. 

In 2023, the shipping ministry weighed an Rs 11,000 crore production-linked incentive (PLI) for container makers. The Cabinet sent it back that September, citing a glut of containers and falling global exports.

A few months before that, in December 2022, Tata Steel, India's oldest private steelmaker, had received the first Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) licence to make the weathering steel containers need. 

Its Jamshedpur plant could now make container steel, but the factories to use it did not follow. 

Indian makers could not match Chinese prices, and with the 2023 incentive shelved, nothing covered the difference. Without volume orders, no maker could build the scale, automation and casting supply that bring costs down.

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$ 2.88 billion

That is the enterprise value at which Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) will acquire Netherlands-based liquid storage operator Evos BV, with eight terminals across five European countries.

The acquisition will expand Adani’s international footprint and diversify its liquids portfolio, while providing access to key European energy and industrial hubs, Reuters reported.

Catch Up Quick: Evos is Europe's second-largest independent liquid storage operator. The deal has an equity value of $1.32 and will be funded through debt, subject to regulatory approvals.

Highlight: The acquisition comes as Adani expands its global transport network through investments in Vizhinjam and Colombo. It also offers exposure to emerging fuels such as sustainable aviation fuel and biofuels.

India Orders Battery Backup

India will soon ask state power companies to set up battery storage so they can save extra clean energy and use it during the evening, when demand peaks. Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal said at the Bharat Renewable Energy Summit. He gave no specifics on required capacity, saying the situation was fluid, and added that more storage-related clean energy tenders were in the works.

Context: State utilities currently have no battery storage for the surplus energy they buy, contributing to evening and night shortages this year. India has burned more coal to meet that demand despite over 300 GW of non-fossil capacity, while hydropower output lagged because of weaker El Niño-linked rainfall.

Setup: On Wednesday, India separately announced a Rs 145 billion ($1.5 billion) programme to develop storage projects, primarily for power producers. The government also plans to mandate battery storage for all new government solar and wind projects from July 2027.

Weak Monsoon Hits Tractors

Mahindra & Mahindra, India’s largest tractor maker, cut its industry growth forecast for the fiscal year to flat from 5%, citing weak rainfall. The weakest monsoon in a decade is squeezing rural incomes in a country where about 40% of people depend on farming.

Weaker demand will likely weigh on tractor margins in the third quarter, CEO Anish Shah said, calling a flat year “not a bad place to be” on a high base.

The Lead: Strong SUV demand cushioned the blow, with second-quarter consolidated profit after tax up 25% to Rs 4,588 crore and revenue up 25% at Rs 57,553 crore.

Setting: Two-wheeler makers are also wary of weak farm incomes hurting mass-market buyers. As The Core earlier reported, Bajaj Auto joint managing director Rakesh Sharma said weak rains in parts of Maharashtra, southern India and the Northeast could hurt buyers who rely on regular cash flows. This “might play out more in quarter four,” he said, when harvests are due.

The Ozempic Opportunity

Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has secured approval from Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) to sell a generic version of Ozempic, marking another step in Indian drugmakers’ push into the global market for diabetes and weight-loss medicines.

Pivot: The Hyderabad-based company will sell the drug in partnership with Brazilian pharmaceutical firm Ache. The medicine contains semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, which belongs to a class of drugs called GLP-1 receptor agonists.

How We Got Here: India is the world’s largest supplier of generic medicines, accounting for around 20% of global supply. With patents expiring and regulators clearing cheaper alternatives, Indian pharmaceutical companies such as Dr Reddy’s, Sun Pharma and Zydus Lifesciences are looking to capture a share of the fast-growing GLP-1 market.

Finance Under Fire

India has flagged a hacking campaign targeting financial firms that uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including some linked to China, to automate cyberattacks.

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has identified four tools used in the campaign: ARTEX, PentAGI, Cairn and CyberStrikeAI. Hackers have deployed these tools to breach non-bank lenders, fintech companies and cryptocurrency exchanges. The warning comes a week after hackers allegedly linked to North Korea stole $6.3 billion from Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, in what could be the biggest cryptocurrency heist on record.

The Lead: They exploit vulnerabilities in payment and disbursement systems to siphon off money, often launching attacks on weekends and holidays when fewer employees monitor networks.

Outcome: The warning highlights the growing cybersecurity risks facing India's expanding digital finance industry. As financial firms digitise operations and adopt AI, hackers are also turning to readily available AI tools to automate attacks and target vulnerabilities at scale.

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Nifty Posts Best Weekly Performance In 5 Years As FIIs Step Up Buying

On Episode 1027 of The Core Report, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Bhavesh Jain, MD & CEO of TransUnion CIBIL.

• Nifty Posts Best Weekly Performance In 5 Years As FIIs Step Up Buying

• Oil Prices Drift Lower But Still Held Down By Uncertainty

• Adani In $2.8 Billion Deal For Europe’s Second Largest Liquid Storage Company

• Govt To Mandate Energy Storage For Electricity Utilities

• India’s Gold Loan Market Is Growing To Sizes Unimaginable And Is Half Of Mortgages As Stress Rises