Cochin Port Joint Trade Union Forum has requested the Centre to grant fund allocation to defray the full dredging expenditure both for capital as well as maintenance of the channel.
CD Nandakumar, general convenor of the Forum cited an IPA committee report in this regard which recommended financial support to the port to meet the dredging expenditure. The committee noted that the annual maintenance dredging cost is much higher than the permissible level in terms of financial outgo and the port required dredging throughout the year to maintain a safe navigable channel. The quantity of silt to be removed was approximately 20 to 28 million cubic metre annually, he said.
The report, according to Nandakumar, also noted that the International Container Transhipment Terminal at Vallarpadam is transforming itself into a transhipment hub capable of accepting bigger ships. This would require further deepening of the channel to 16 metres that would lead to more siltation and increased dredging requirements in the coming years, besides capital dredging activities.
Quoting the cost analysis worked out by the port management, he said the incremental increase in revenue after further deepening the channel till the expiry of the license period of the ICTT (2042) is about ₹557 crore. But, the additional maintenance dredging expenses also comes around ₹1900 crore, he said, adding that the situation will drag the port into another round of financial crunch.
However, the Union Budget, considering all these factors, failed to extend any required support to the port to meet the operational expenditure in dredging works as there were expectations of some positive measures, he said.
He recalled that it was after prolonged agitations and representations by trade unions, that the Shipping Ministry constituted a committee last year to explore the possibility of treating port channels as national assets and examining the feasibility of funding the entire dredging cost.
The Trade Union Forum also expected financial restructuring of the obsolete loan amount of ₹400 crore from the government in the budget. All these initiatives are inevitable for Cochin Port to survive in the competitive environment, especially with the commissioning of Vizhinjam terminal to offer a cost-effective, prompt and user-friendly service to the trade, Nandakumar said.