To reduce India´s dependence on Colombo and Singapore ports for handling cargo traffic, the Modi Government is planning to build a mega transshipment hub at a cost of over Rs.5,000 crore. The transshipment hub is expected to come up near Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu around the international trading route.
Currently, Colombo and Singapore ports handle most of the container movement as Indian ports cannot handle larger vessels. India has also been wary of China´s growing influence at Colombo port.
“We need to cut dependence of east coast cargo on Colombo by building a container port near the international shipping route. This would also benefit Indian traders as their cost would come down. The smaller feeder vessels will bring container cargo, which then will be loaded onto larger ships,” a senior government official said.
The new container handling facility will not only reduce the logistics cost by around 10 per cent, but will also bring down the travel time substantially.
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