I’m pretty sure it’s the latter: the corridor makes a lot of sense, but not for the reasons people are touting. It’s not really connecting India to Europe so much as it is connecting India to the Middle East and Europe to the Middle East. It’s getting past some of the key challenges of moving goods to and within the Arabian Peninsula, but connecting India to Europe through it would be silly given that the Suez already exists.
AFAIK it’s mostly been the US/EU that’s been pushing the narrative that the corridor will connect India to Europe… obviously, given geopolitical tensions with China. Meanwhile, global shopping organizations and shipping analysts treat it as niche product for Europe-India trade.
I wouldn’t say it’s blowing air so much as it is a method of getting Western funding - you say the words “compete with China” and suddenly the US and EU are willing to throw billions of dollars at you.
Edit: It might be beneficial specifically for perishables because I’m sure you could do some smart container placement and logistical management (using smaller container ships, unloading perishables first), but that’s a rather niche market because the two ocean freight legs aren’t exactly short… so the items have to be perishable, but not too perishable, and not valuable enough for air freight.