Coastal shipping needs a boost, says Director General Amitabh Kumar

Give a chance to foreign players by easing norms: official

Amitabh Kumar at the inaugural session of the Global Maritime Seminar in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

Increased movement of cargo by improving the coastal shipping network and infrastructure is the need of the hour, said Director General of Shipping, Amitabh Kumar.

Talking to The Hindu in the sidelines of the two-day GLOMARS- 2019, a global maritime seminar on ‘India – emerging global maritime power challenges’, he said the coastal shipping in India is around 6%, whereas in China it is 47%, Japan 34% and the U.S., 12.4%.

The government has been investing in the road network, which is logical, as roads are also used by people, but it has not been able to invest as desired in coastal shipping. “Modernisation is left to the ports, and they in turn recover the cost from customers, which is hampering global competitiveness,” he said,

“The regulatory framework could be relaxed to facilitate 49 % FDI to stimulate coastal shipping, with 51% remaining with the Indians and with it the ownership of the vessel. Further, overseas Indians should also be allowed to invest in the sector and the vessels could be registered in the country,” he said.

Tax reduction

Taxes should be reduced by the Union Finance Ministry to bring down costs. Availability of cargo was another major problem, and ports should set up dedicated coastal cargo berths. Multi-modal logistics parks were coming up in the country to address some of these issues, he added.

Logistics cost should be brought down substantially in India to make the industry competitive and for the purpose.

“There should be greater investment in coastal shipping, in building up infrastructure for inland transport of cargo, and strengthening infrastructure. But the reverse is happening. There are several compulsions for it.”