The Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry has welcomed the Centre’s decision to invest ₹380 crore to deepen the draft at Cochin Port Trust by 16 meters. However, the industry body expressed concern over the absence of details on various aspects of the investment.

The Chamber is planning to make a representation on the issue to the Shipping Ministry since details of several factors connected to the proposal are not clear yet, said PM Veeramani, President of Cochin Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

According to him, the deepening of draft is necessary to develop the Cochin Port as currently the pilotage charges are significantly higher than that of Colombo Port. However, this is mitigated to an extent by Cochin Port Authority by providing rebates on port charges to ships, he added.

Light house dues (LHD) in Indian ports, including the Cochin Port, are high and negate any concession offered by port authorities.

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Lighthouse dues are the charges levied on ships for the maintenance of lighthouses and other aids. It is levied by the Centre.  

The Central government needs to have a relook at the LHD charges if the traffic is to improve, he added.     

According to an announcement, the Centre is meeting only 50 per cent of the cost of this project and the balance is to be met by Cochin Port Authority.

The financial position of Cochin Port Authority does not appear to be good enough to meet the 50 per cent cost of investment. Hence, ideally, the Centre should consider bearing the full cost, the Chamber said.

There is no mention on how the annual maintenance cost is proposed to be met. The thinking is that deeper draft and increasing terminal capacity would result in more vessel calls, resulting in increased revenue which should help meet the increased maintenance dredging cost. Till such increased revenue is generated, the Centre should favourably consider the persistent demand for a maintenance subsidy for Cochin Port similar to Calcutta and Haldia. Alternatively, the possibility of other entities like Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Navy, etc. who are using the channels should share the cost of annual maintenance, he said.

The announcement had also stated the ICTT operated by DP World is contemplating an additional investment to raise the capacity of transshipment terminal to 2 million TEUs, which should be welcomed whole heartedly as the foreign investor continues to evince interest in Cochin in spite of the development of Vizhinjam Port, the Chamber added.