Govt may ask ports to fund cash-strapped Dredging Corp: Secy

Says the Corporation is not mulling raising the money by issue of bonds like it did last year

Admitting that state-run Dredging Corporation is facing fund shortage, Union Shipping Secretary Vishwapati Trivedi today said the company is in the process of raising Rs 1,000 crore from banks and ports.

"We will be raising Rs 1,000 crore from either banks or we are saying let the ports, flush with cash come in and give a loan to the Corporation for dredging projects at their ports," Trivedi told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference here.

He said the Corporation is not mulling raising the money by issue of bonds like it did last year.

"The government is also not contemplating a fund infusion into the company to meet the requirements, he added.

Terming dredging as a "major challenge" for the state-run major ports, Trivedi conceded that it takes a "lot of efforts" to drive it.

In spite of the hindering factors, he said we have achieved the 14 metre depth in channels of all the major ports, except the one at Kolkata, where it is very difficult to achieve that level due to the tough environment present there.

Trivedi said the government took a major initiative by making dredging qualify under the "infrastructure" segment which helps it get various benefits in the income tax and service tax fronts.