The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday gave its approval to waive the penal interest on government loans to Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) and Paradip Port Trust (PPT) amounting to ₹250.89 crore and ₹1,076.59 crore, respectively.
Both port trusts will have to pay a penalty at the rate of 0.25% of the penal interest as on the date of the approval of the waiver, according to the government. Both VPT and PPT will have to pay the outstanding principal amount—₹44.69 crore for VPT and ₹387.74 crore for PPT.
“Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) had availed ₹110.41 crore of loan at different points of time beginning from 1970-71 to 1984-85 to finance its Outer Harbour Project to accommodate deep draft vessels of 100,000 DWT for iron ore exports,” the government said in a release. “Paradip Port Trust (PPT) had availed ₹642.69 crore of loan under different heads at different points of time beginning from 1967 to 2002 to finance its various infrastructure projects.”
