The government will mount pressure on the Union government to secure an assistance of Rs.400 crore for the Cochin Port Trust for the maintenance dredging at Vallarpadam, Ports Minister K. Babu has said.
Replying to a calling attention motion of Benny Behanan (Congress) in the Assembly on Monday on the financial crisis in the trust, Mr. Babu said the trust had given memoranda for the financial assistance a number of times, but Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had submitted a memorandum to the Union Shipping Minister directly on March 5, and he got an assurance that a recommendation for the assistance would be forwarded to the Union Finance Ministry.
The State government would urge the Union government to grant permission for buying a dredger for the trust. The concessions in cabotage law would help the trust to attain stability in the next three years. The assistance was needed for overcoming the crisis. The intervention of the Chief Minister was also needed for securing the assistance, he said.
