| |
News on Ports
TAMP
to shift its operations to Mumbai The
Union government has decided to shift the operations of the Tariff
Authority for major Ports (TAMP) from New Delhi to Mumbai. The
Cabinet Committee on Accommodation has approved a decision to
this effect. Meanwhile, the government is working on formulating
a draft law to set up an appellate tribunal, whereby the major
ports and the service providers at major ports would be free to
fix their tariffs with an appellate body taking care of grievances
of the users.
Tuticorin
Port aiming for net surplus of Rs. 44.2 crore Tuticorin
Port Trust has estimated that it would handle 13.65 million tones
of cargo during 2002-03 and achieve a targeted net surplus of
Rs.44.19 crore. The port handled 13.02 million tones against 12.28
million tones the year before. The port hopes to show some improvement
against last year's reduction in operating cost of handling cargo.
The net surplus during 2001-02 increased to Rs.40.49 crore the
previous year, mainly because of increased traffic handling and
emphasis on cost reduction. The cost reduction exercise had brought
down the operating expenditure to Rs.58.09 crore, a decrease of
Rs.2.03 crore over the previous year. The handling cost per tonne
of cargo was Rs.72.88 against Rs. 76.47 in 2000-01. The port is
procuring and installing three tonne grab cranes in VOC berths
III and IV at a cost of Rs.19.42 crore.
Kandla
Port to float fresh tender for setting up container terminal After
turning down the offer from P&O Ports, which had proposed
to build the terminal on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis
for 30-year period, the Kandla Port Trust (KPT) is now once again
working on floating a fresh tender for the same project. The P&O
bid for the project was earlier approved at a cost of Rs. 370
crore but was later turned down, as the P&O Ports had insisted
on a monopoly status at the port, which was unacceptable to KPT.
However, it is not clear if the fresh tender will provide for
a monopoly in operating the container terminal at the port. Kandla
Port has handled 37.7 million tones of cargo in 2001-02 compared
with about 42 million tonne recorded by Vishakapatanam port in
the Eastern coast.
Kochi
port cargo volume up by 42 per cent in first quarter Kochi
port has registered a record growth of 42 per cent in the first
quarter ended June, which is the highest among the eleven major
ports in the country. The port has handled 3.3 million tones of
cargo during this period as against 2.3 million tones of cargo
during the corresponding period in the previous year. The increase
in traffic is attributed the increased handling of crude oil,
containers, fertilizers, coal and iron scrap. A significant increase
is seen in the total tonnage of container traffic at 4,43,000
tonnes as against 2,99,000 tonnes in the same period.
Back to top
News on Shipping
SCI
signs up COA with BPCL for crude transportation Shipping
Corporation of India (SCI) has signed a contract of affreightment
(COA) with the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.(BPCL) for transporting
its crude cargo from the Persian Gulf for a six month period,
with an option for extensions of three months each. Under the
agreement, the SCI will be paid freight rates based on AFRA rates
compiled by the London Tanker Broker's Panel Ltd. The negotiations
for signing of the deal between the two public sector undertakings,
both slated for disinvestments of the strategic stake had been
going on for sometime and comes as a major gain for the SCI, which
had only recently lost its erstwhile nodal agency status for crude
transportation. The SCI is also negotiating a similar contract
with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) for moving
its crude supplies from Persian Gulf. Both the public sector oil
refineries have together signed long-term contracts with suppliers
in Persian Gulf for buying 15 million tonnes of crude during the
current fiscal for their refineries in Mumbai and Kochi (BPCL)
and Mumbai and Vishakapatanam (HPCL).
News on Shipyards
Plea
to expedite clearance of ADS project The
Cochin Shipyard Joint Action Council Against Privatization has
called upon the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Security
to immediately intervene for expediting the approval of the revised
estimate for the construction of Air Defence Ship (ADS) proposed
to be built in the yard. In a memorandum submitted to the committee,
the action council has urged that a revised estimate of Rs. 3,500
crore for the construction of ADS as per the requirements of the
Navy was awaiting clearance from the Cabinet committee on Security.
If the revised estimate was approved, the construction could be
started next year and completed within five years. Cochin Shipyard
Ltd. (CSL) received the original letter of intent on ADS in 1999
and the initial estimate for the project was 1,300 crore. For
the infrastructure development an amount of Rs.32.7 crore was
sanctioned to CSL on two occasions.
Plan
panel earmarks Rs.2,200 crore for upgradation and development
The
working group on shipping for the Tenth Plan has set an investment
target of Rs.2,200 crore for upgradation and development of shipyards
and a revenue target of Rs. 15,800 crore from activities of the
shipyards during the plan period. The investment would be mainly
made on strengthening core activities, including shipbuilding
and ship repair by various yards. The panel has earmarked about
Rs.800 crore towards upgrading existing yards for carnage, pre-outfitting,
computer-aided engineering, manufacturing and ship repair. About
Rs. 100 crore has been allocated for training of personnel. A
target of delivering 3,60,000 dwt has been set for shipyards,
consisting of mix of product carriers, containers and passenger
ships, frigates, mine counter measures, pollution control vessels,
high bollard pull tugs, dredgers together valued at about Rs.14,
000 crore. In the offshore sector, a total turnover of Rs. 1,250
crore has been targeted, with ship repairs expected yield revenue
of Rs. 1,900 crore.
Back
to top
News on Ship Breaking
Coimbatore
entrepreneurs seek ship breaking yard in South The
Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA) has
urged the Central government to approve the Vallinokkam port in
Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu for undertaking ship breaking
works. Opening up a ship breaking yard in South will help make
available scrap metal, used in the steel-rerolling mills at a
lesser cost, CODISSIA has urged.
News on Inland Waterways
UP
government to launch luxury cruise on Ganges The
tourism department of the Uttar Pradesh government is set to launch
an ambitious project under which a luxury boat will sail along
the Ganges river from Varanasi to Chunar. A memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to this effect has been signed between Womsi India Ltd.
and the tourism department of the state government, under which
the former will manufacture "Bajras" (the luxury boats),
each of which can carry up to 90 tourists. These luxury boats
would be air-conditioned and would have all modern facilities.
Womsi India will also provide jetty facility for these boats at
various points. The service would be eventually extended up to
Allahabad.
Kolkata
Port plans to convert idle jetties into inland cargo terminals
Kolkata
Port Trust (KoPT) has decided to convert some of the idle jetties
into inland water cargo terminals. KoPT has already short-listed
eight jetties presently lying idle at the Kidderpore dock for
this purpose. As per the plan as soon as the Customs authorities
issue necessary notification orders, these jetties would be handed
over to either Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) or to
some private operators on long lease. The proposed move is in
line with the policy of Shipping ministry to develop Kolkata Dock
System as a hub for IWAI traffic
Back
to top
News on Logistics
Warehousing
receipts made into negotiable instruments
An
inter-ministerial task force headed by Mr. RCA Jain, Additional
Secretary in the Union Ministry of Agriculture has submitted a
report which has recommended that warehouse receipts (WR) issued
by warehouse operators, both in the public as well as private
sectors be made fully negotiable instruments. It has also recommended
the enactment of a Central legislation similar to Multi-Modal
Transportation of Goods Act 1993 to make WRs fully negotiable
instruments and transferable by endorsement. The task force has
also recommended that Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) be
made into a accreditation agency for warehousing operators to
enforce prescribed warehousing standards and protect the interests
of WR holders against negligence, malpractice or fraud. Under
the WR system farmers or traders instead of directly selling their
produce in mandis, can deposit it with licensed warehouse operators,
who in turn issue them WRs. The farmers can either retain these
receipts - to reclaim the underlying commodities later in anticipation
of higher prices or use them as collateral for obtaining bank
finance.
Gati
to operate its second Millennium cargo trainThe
millennium parcel express , a joint enterprise between Gati and
Indian Railways has launched operations of its second cargo train
between Delhi and Mumbai. The train has a single stopover at Valsad,
with a transit time of 30 hours to complete its journey. The first
such cargo train to be launched by the Indian Railways in alliance
with corporate sector was launched between Mumbai-Kolkata in the
beginning of 2002. The Millennium parcel express, having a capacity
of 230 tonnes is specially designed to carry high-value express
cargo. Gati is now believed to be planning to further extend similar
train services between Delhi and Bangalore, Delhi and Guwahati
among other sectors
|
|
