The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomed the Union government’s decision to invest ₹380 crore to deepen the draft at the Kochi Port by 16 metres but expressed concern over the absence of details on various aspects of the investment. A communication from the Chamber said here that it was considering making a representation on the issue.
The Chamber said the Union Shipping Minister had recently announced the government’s decision on the investment and had said that the objective was to make Kochi a transshipment hub and an alternative to the Colombo Port. The Chamber expressed the view that it was necessary to deepen the draft to develop the Kochi Port.
According to the announcement, the Centre will meet only 50% of the cost, and the remaining part is to be met by the Cochin Port Authority. The financial position of the authority does not appear to be good enough to meet the 50% of cost of the investment. Hence, the Centre must ideally consider meeting the full cost of deepening the draft, the Chamber said.
Besides, the Chamber said in its statement that there was no mention on how the annual maintenance cost is proposed to be met. At present, the entire annual maintenance cost is met by the CPA which itself is a heavy financial burden.
It appears that the present thinking is that the deepening of the draft and increasing the terminal capacity will result in more vessel calls and volumes resulting in increased revenue, which should help meet the increased maintenance dredging cost. Till such time as the increased revenue is generated, the Union government must favourably consider the persistent demand for a maintenance subsidy for the Kochi Port similar to the one being offered to Kolkata and Haldia.
Alternatively, the possibility of other entities such as the Cochin Shipyard and the Navy, which are using the shipping channels, should share the cost of annual maintenance, Chamber president P.M. Veeramani said.
