MoPSW looking VGF Scheme change to boost Coastal Shipping

Cont’d from Pg. 4

In her Budget speech, Finance Minister Smt Nirmala Sitharaman had said that coastal shipping will be promoted as the energy-efficient and lower cost mode of transport, both for passengers and freight, through the public private partnership(PPP)modewithviabilitygapfunding.

The Shipping Ministry has identified a potential of 340 million tonnes of cargo movement by Coastal Shipping per annum. But it requires commodities to be loaded onto trucks or rail wagons and then moved to the originating ports, from where a round of unloading and reloading on to the ships takesplace.