For setting up Kerala Maritime Board (KMB), the Kerala government has submitted a proposal to the Union government. The proposed Board is intended to initiate all port-related activities and maritime cargo businesses in the state. The proposed KMB will come up at Maradu in Kochi with an initial investment of Rs 20 crore and will look at all possible avenues for port-related activities.
Kerala’s Director of Ports Jacob Thomas said that the board will also initiate state-of- the-art maritime services, and more importantly, monitor maritime and ecological issues on a regular basis along the 580-km-long Kerala coast.
Kerala has taken the Gujarat Maritime Board as a model for strategising future maritime business in the state. Gujarat has been able to productively boost its maritime trade along its 1,600-km- long coastline. During 2012-13, non-major ports in Gujarat handled about 287.81 million tonne of cargo compared to 259 million tonne handled during the previous year, an increase of 11.11 per cent in maritime cargo business, Thomas cited.
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