The Centre has promised to make amendments in the Cabotage Law, which reserves 100 per cent coastal trade to national flag vessels, the Chief Minister, Mr Oommen Chandy, has said.

The Chief Minister said that he had discussed the matter with the Prime Minister during his recent visit to New Delhi regarding Cabotage Law amendments for facilitating foreign feeder vessels to carry transhipment cargo between Vallarpadam Terminal and other Indian ports.

PM’s assurance

“The Prime Minister promised us that he would direct the Shipping Ministry to expedite this,” Mr Chandy said while inaugurating the Kerala Chapter of the Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO) in Kochi.

The matter has been represented before the Centre and it has agreed in principle to change the law. The change in Cabotage law is vital for optimum utilisation of Vallarpadam Terminal and growth of exports from the State, the Chief Minister said.

Infra development

He pointed out that Kerala needs to develop infrastructure, including coastal transport, in order to increase exports from the State. The State government had already initiated steps to develop two other major ports such as Vizhinjam and Azheekal and some other minor ports to promote coastal transport and boost exports, he added.

Emphasising the need to have better infrastructure for improving exports, the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Prof K.V. Thomas, said that Kerala needs highways of international standards.

There were limitations in investments from the State and Central governments and he favoured levying toll from road users.

Commodity Export

Mr Anup K. Pujari, Director General of Foreign Trade, stressed the need to take hard decisions to achieve growth in exports. India, so far this year, has exported 54 million tonnes of rice, 12.5 million tonnes of wheat, 7 lakh tonnes of sugar, 122 million bales of cotton and 188 million cases of cotton yarn. A stable policy needed to be adopted for export of all commodities, he added.

Mr M. Rafeeque Ahmed, president, FIEO, said that exports from Kerala during the year 2011-12 was around $11.5 billion with a share of below 4 per cent in the national kitty. FIEO is aiming for a strategy to increase this share to 9 per cent by 2015.

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