Mormugao Port Trust in Goa is exploring various options to overcome the financial crisis that it is facing because of a sharp decline in iron ore export cargo.
According to reports, the port is planning to reduce the staff strength through Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS). But the authority needs to secure the support and consent of the central government for this.
Other options include taking financial assistance, short-term, long-term, soft and all other kinds, from the Union Government as well as cash-rich port trusts like Kandla, Visakhapatnam, JNPT, Chennai and Paradip. This is again subject to the approval of the authorities in Delhi. It might be noted that the problem over iron ore export is not a new thing.
The financial crisis of the port is caused by its overdependence on a single commodity, iron ore and the sharp decline in export of the raw material from India.
Traditionally, iron ore export accounted for more than 80 percent of the portÂ’s total traffic. For various reasons, the traffic has now virtually vanished from the port, causing a huge cash crunch for the port authorities.
The port is reportedly struggling to make payment of wages and salaries to 2,600-plus employees because of financial duress.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.