Aimed at providing better bunkering services, the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation (KSINC) will procure an oil tanker barge and a container barge with a crane.
The State Government has accorded administrative sanction to the KSINC and has also allotted funds towards this project. The estimated cost for constructing these vessels is `14.5 crore. Of this, the State Government will allocate Rs 12 crore by way of budget allocation while the remaining `2.5 crore has to be met by the KSINC from own funds or through bank loan. The government has also ordered to to release Rs 6 crore as share capital contribution.
“It was a proposal submitted by the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation last year. We are already in to bunkering operations. We are planning to extend our bunkering operations to the outer sea using oil tanker barge while the container barge with crane will be used for moving containerised cargo through waterways,”said Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation authorities.
The Cochin Port authorities had recently said that they had plans to open a single window facility for those who offer bunkering services to permit bunkering at night and to take steps to provide dedicated berths.
In September, 2012, the government had issued a notification that the benefit of reduced Value Added Tax (VAT) will be available for the sale of bunkers either directly or through bunkering agents holding valid licence issued by the Director-General of Shipping.
