The first container of the exim cargo of Nepal was flagged off to that country from the Visakha Container Terminal Private Limited on Friday. Visakhapatnam port has been designated as the second gateway port for Nepal after Kolkata-Haldia. Chairman of Visakhapatnam Port Trust Chairman M.T. Krishna Babu, who flagged off the container by road along with Chief Secretary to the Nepal Government Somlal Subedi, said Visakhapatnam would be the ideal gateway port for exim cargo from Nepal and VPT would provide all the facilities.
Advantages
Pointing out that VPT had to wait for many years to be designated as the second gateway port for Nepal, the Chairman explained to the seven-member Nepali delegation that the port had several advantages than the Kolkata-Haldia port though Nepal was at a longer distance from here but its location, facilities, efficiency and quicker turnaround time would make VTP a natural choice. The VPT would offer competitive rates and the cargo would be moved in and out in a quicker time.
Mr. Subedi said starting exim cargo of his country from here was a milestone and this would help strengthen trade relations between the countries. He assured that Nepal would try to make use of the port here. He thanked the VPT Chairman and other officials, the Customs and Indian Railways for their cooperation. Mr. Subedi said plans for a trade meet in Nepal would be made to create a better understanding between exporters and importers of the two countries.
Vizag scores
The deeper draft of 17 metres in the outer harbour of Visakhapatnam compared to seven metres in the Kolkata port would make it easy to handle bigger vessels with a distinct cost advantage, COO of VCTPL Sushil Mulchandani said. Visakhapatnam would connect Nepal with the rest of South India also. He explained to the Nepali delegation that it would be beneficial for Nepal to use the cargo terminal here than the one in Kolkata.
The Nepal delegation interacted with the stakeholders, Concor, shipping liners, CFS handling agents and other agencies and wanted them to examine the areas of constraints such as freight charges, deployment of rakes, intermediaries and the logistics since better business would happen it the constraints were removed.
