Union Minister for Shipping and Transport Nitin Gadkari has reiterated that the future of the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) is contingent on the completion of GAIL India’s natural gas pipeline from Mangaluru to Kochi.
The port would be able to increase its turnover manifold if the pipeline got completed, he said after breaking ground for an International Ship Repair Facility (ISRF) being set up at the Cochin shipyard on the land leased by the CPT here on Friday.
The ISRF, he said, would be capable of carrying out repairs of small and medium-size ships and was immensely significant as the country lacked adequate ship maintenance infrastructure. Besides generating employment opportunities for about 6,000 people, the facility would help the growth of ancillary industry in the region.
He asked Industries Minister A.C. Moideen, who was present at the event, if the State would create a residential complex for the 6,000 people who would get employment due to the facility.
While praising the shipyard for its technical excellence and performance, he said ‘low ambition is a crime.’
Although delayed, the yard had finally taken a decision for the ISRF, which, going by Kerala standards, was rather fast, he said.
The Union Minister asked the yard to fan out to other parts of India to set up sub-centres “where I’ll give you work” if Kerala did not want development. .
Mr. Gadkari said it was seaplanes and fast-moving catamarans and hovercraft that Kerala needed to boost its tourism. “Kerala does not need airports. It needs seaplanes.”
He said among Indian States, Kerala got the least quantum of funds from the Centre for development of highways, as land acquisition remained a problem. “I’m ready to give money. How to get land? You have to find a way out,” he said.
