Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

CII meet on port development

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI March 14. A new approach to ports in the southern region, taking into account the possibility of integrated development of major ports (under the jurisdiction of the Central Government) and "non-major" ports (under the jurisdiction of the respective State Government) will be a highlight of the session devoted to the ports sector in the infrastructure summit, Suminfra 2003, on March 20.

For instance, development of non-major ports, popularly known as minor ports, (such as Cuddalore) as feeder ports to the major ports (such as Chennai, Ennore and Tuticorin), cross-investment by major ports in the non-major ports and dedication of the small ports to specific commodities/sectors, including tourism, as the backbone of their hinterland and their use as captive ports of specific users will be considered on the basis of the study on the southern region infrastructure (including railways, roads and ports) made by A.F. Ferguson.

The summit will also hear a comprehensive business plan for the Chennai Port prepared by ICRA and CII.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, B. Sridhar, Chairman of the Working Group on Ports of the Confederation of Indian Industry-Southern Region (CII-SR), which is organising the two-day summit being inaugurated on March 19, said the desirability of the States in the southern region consulting and collaborating with each other on development of the ports as also inland water transport (IWT), the latter especially in the case of Kerala, would be discussed at the summit.

A. Balasubramanian, member of the Working Group and Assistant Vice-President (Operations) of IDFC, the leading financier of infrastructure in the country, said the financial institutions' (FI) experience showed that ports should no more be treated as mere "projects" but should be evaluated as "cost effective logistics solutions at an acceptable price (from the point of view of the user)".

FIs should learn to accept certain risks on their part instead of looking forward to infrastructure projects with assured returns.

The potential of coastal shipping and IWT, especially from the point of view of reducing environmental cost, needed to be considered.

Apart from existing major and minor ports in the region, the potential of Colachel would be discussed.

Senior representatives of the Asian Development Bank, Gujarat Maritime Board, Ennore Ports Ltd, Larsen and Toubro (ECC-Construction Division), Shipping Corporation of India and IDFC will address the session on ports.

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