Essays on Dry Ports Special focus on India.

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. 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.