The Union Minister of State for Shipping Milind Murali Deora has said in Thiruvananthapuram recently that there is a strong case for granting cabotage exemption for Vizhinjam port. The demand for exemption requested by the Kerala government is justifiable, however the views of Indian National Ship Owners Association and other stakeholders will have to be taken into consideration, he added.
Deora visited the Vizhinjam port site at Mulloor along with MoS HRD and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and other state government officials from Vizhinjam International Seaport on December 22. The Minister said that Cochin Port Trust (CPT) was bursting at the seams and it was high time that another shipyard was established with an investment capacity of Rs 1,000 crore.
Deora said that three locations – Azheekal, Poovar and Vizhinjam – are being considered for the new shipyard. In September last year, the Kerala government decided to ease cabotage norms only for Vallarpadam International Container Trans-Shipment Terminal, which allowed overseas registered container ships to carry cargo between India’s ports through Vallarpadam.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.