The Captain of Ports (CoP) of the Goa government is exploring possibilities of initiating coal transportation in order to arrest the decline in its revenue.
The revenue earning of CoP declined to 12 crore in 2012 from 40 crore in 2011. Major chunk of its revenue came from barges transporting iron ore. Following the ban on iron ore mining in the state, it has been losing revenue from transportation of ore.
It has identified two private jetties in Kothambi village in Bicholim. The plan was to transport coal through a fleet of barges from the outer anchorage where shipments are normally anchored, and move them to the two jetties before coal could be taken to the final destination via road.
But the CoP learnt that traders who are currently using Mangalore port are not willing to transport coal through Panaji port as cess charged here is four times more than what is charged in Karnataka.
The cess on transportation of coal in Karnataka is 50 per tonne as against 200 per tonne charged by the commercial tax department of the Goa government.
Despite the CoP taking efforts to put logistics in order to allow coal transport through Goa waters, traders are not showing interest in Goa ports, reports suggest. Presently, only one company is using Panaji port for coal transportation.
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