Pvt firms will anchor maritime sector revamp

On the anvil are National Dedicated Freight Rail Corridors, connecting ports in the South to the hinterland in the North, operated by a private consortium.

To start with, a rail corridor will be implemented between Delhi and Mumbai to evacuate containers headed for North and Northwest India.

‘‘The proposed corridor would be operated in the private sector and it would have its own rolling stock, locomotives, signalling system, stations etc but will follow the standards laid down by the Railways,’’ states the draft policy.

These corridors would be developed through special purpose vehicles that would be funded through a consortium of ports, port users and private investors.

As for road connectivity to the ports, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will be the nodal body to raise finances and implement the road projects.

The Inland Water Transport (IWT), which accounts for 0.15 per cent of inland cargo, would also get top priority to popularise it as a viable alternative to rail and road movement through private firms.

An IWT Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 500 crore will be created by the Centre to provide long-term subsidy for buying new vessels. Additionally, private sector participation would be encouraged through tax exemptions and 100 per cent FDI.

The Shipping Ministry has also planned a sea change at ports with a shift to ‘‘berths waiting for ships’’ from the current ‘‘ships waiting for berths’’ scenario.

For that, berthing capacity would be expanded and advanced machines installed to handle the anticipated 1 billion tonnes of cargo traffic in 2012, way above the 113.40 million tonnes in 2003-04.

Additionally, a spare capacity of 30 per cent would be built at each port to minimise the waiting time and turnaround time for vessels. As for state-operated minor ports, the Centre will provide equity assistance upto 33.3 per cent, not exceeding Rs 100 crore, for development.

To allow berthing of large ships that presently end up dumping India-bound cargo into smaller vessels at foreign ports, the Centre will develop National Sea Waterways, like the national highways, along the coast through increased water-depths at the entrance and approach channels.

Shipping would be given an impetus through fiscal measures such as income tax exemption to foreign-bound Indian seafarers, service tax, and exemption from withholding tax on external commercial borrowings.

Coastal shipping is planned to be encouraged through duty free bunker (as available for foreign-going vessels) and duty free imports of spares, stores and equipment. A Coastal Shipping Fund of Rs 500 crore will be set up to provide soft loans for buying coastal vessels.

These funds, however, would be raised partly through a cess of Rs 50 on a tonne of foreign-bound cargo and Rs 20 per tonne of coastal and low value cargo. The cess would be levied for 10 years.