Cabotage law relaxation deactivate

17 November 2012 | Kochi

 

The recent insistence by Defence Ministry that all import containers passing through the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) should be scanned has neutralized the advantages expected after relaxing cabotage law for the terminal for three years.

Industry sources said at Colombo port, on which Indian export-import business now depends for bulk of its transshipment, does not have 100% scanning of containers passing through. Similarly, there is no 100% scanning of containers at Jebel Ali and port of Singapore — the other ports that thrive on transshipment business originating from India.

Sources said scanning all the import containers will take up a lot of time and would render operations at ICTT unviable. Around four lakh Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEU) of import consignments pass through ICTT a year the total handling being about eight lakh TEU. It is estimated that officials would require at least 15 minutes scanning a container. Sources said the non-major ports in the country under the control of State governments and run by private terminal operators do not even have CISF cover. These ports do not have scanners and handle approximately 25% of India’s container output.