The Shipping Ministry has identified a
potential of 340 million tonnes of cargo movement by Coastal Shipping per annum.
In a bid
to promote Coastal Shipping, the Shipping Ministry has asked the Finance
Ministry to consider changes in the Viability Gap Funding Scheme so that
operational expenditure (opex) can be supported.
“Under the present guidelines, VGF
(viability gap funding) is offered for capital expenditure, but in our
assessment, it is required for opex due to the multiplicity of handling points
in Coastal Shipping,”
.....an
official said, adding that the Shipping Ministry has taken up the matter with
the Finance Ministry. The official said the Ministry has sought changes in the
VGF norms.
At
present, VGF support is available for projects in metro and road construction,
development of food grain silos, and setting up of transmission lines, among
others.
But
according to Shipping Ministry officials, VGF for Coastal Shipping will be
required for companies such Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) which are in
the business of operating the service on the Indian coastline to help develop
the sector.
In her Budget speech, Finance Minister
Smt Nirmala Sitharaman had said that coastal shipping will be promoted as the
energy-efficient and lower cost mode of transport, both for passengers and
freight, through the public private partnership (PPP) mode with viability gap
funding.
The
Shipping Ministry has identified a potential of 340 million tonnes of cargo
movement by Coastal Shipping per annum. But it requires commodities to be
loaded onto trucks or rail wagons and then moved to the originating ports, from
where a round of unloading and reloading on to the ships takes place.