One of the struggles many emerging markets face while they are growing their prosperity levels is attracting investment, both domestic and foreign. It usually depends on particular variables but in the case of India, a lot of the reason that they have had a difficult time generating more interest in their port infrastructure revival projects is that their tariff laws needed to be re-structured to be more user-friendly. They were considered to be an impediment to major investors and many declined to invest for that reason alone. Changes had to be made and a recent announcement has already started to spawn more interest from abroad regarding port investments.

Decisions by government officials anywhere in the world to deregulate shipping tariffs is always seen as an encouraging sign for potential investors, that the government is serious about doing what is right for investors in huge port upgrading projects and also sends a signal to the major shipping companies around the world that they are "Open For Business" and are willing to do what it takes to attract business/investment and keep its partners happy. There is no sense for a company to make a massive investment into port infrastructure if they believe that tariffs could be a hindrance in the future and result in a slow-down of business. Who wants to invest in a toll bridge when the cost to cross it is so high that few access it and pay the toll fee? It's the same with port tariffs and other charges. If they are too high, shipping companies will take their business where it is less expensive. I am certain we can all accept that is the nature of business.

Unfortunately, the Indian government has been slow at restructuring investment laws and as a result, foreign investment has been disappointingly low. They have been making some changes of late and there still is a long way to go before all the amendments and adjustments are made to make India a safer and more attractive country to invest in. It's not for lack of potential that investors have been reluctant in the past to invest in the world's second most-populous country. India has come far in a relative short period of time, especially in the last twenty years, but as their prosperity grows to record levels, it is critical their port systems get modernized and upgraded in order to meet the rising demand for containers and consumer goods.

The new tariff structure for their ports will certainly help attract more private investment, as a matter of fact, there are already interested parties that have come forward to learn about investment opportunities; since the announcement was made. The Indian government really should have done this a long time ago to be more in line with what other emerging markets are doing to encourage more private foreign investments. Some say it's better late than never. In this case, let's hope it's not too late, but it certainly couldn't have taken much longer as India runs the risk of falling behind their competitors in the new global economy, of which there are many more today than ever before.