Port project may get Rs 1,650cr from cess

To finance the Rs 100,000-crore Sagarmala project, the shipping ministry is considering a two-part maritime development cess "" a Rs 50 per tonne levy on foreign-bound cargo and a Rs 20 per tonne tax on low-value coastal cargo.

Rough estimates based on traffic figures for 2002-03 indicate that at least Rs 1,650 crore can be raised through the cess.

According to the figures for 2002-03, the major ports handled 229.4 million tonnes of overseas traffic and 45.9 million tonnes of low-value coastal traffic, which included a cargo mix of thermal coal, iron ore, iron pellets and cement, but not petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL) products.

Minor port traffic in the same year was 105.12 million tonnes, of which 70 per cent was overseas traffic.

Shipping Minister Shatrughan Sinha said the government expected to attract around Rs 90,000 crore from the private sector in 10 years.