The sailing vessels industry of Gujarat is facing a tough time due to non-availability of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) facility at the ports located in Porbandar, Old Mundra and Okha, Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani has said.
In this regard, Nathwani wrote a letter to Finance Minister P Chidambaram yesterday demanding that the Porbandar port be urgently provided with EDI facility where the required infrastructure for starting EDI is present.
"Absence of the EDI facility at these three ports in Gujarat has seriously affected their export business to Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Gulf countries, including Oman and other Arab nations," Nathwani told PTI today.
"Ninety per cent export business of 400 traditional Indian vessels (referred to as 'vahans' in Gujarati) of Gujarat is affected as EDI facility is not there at these ports for the past several months," he said.
"In the absence of EDI facility, their main cargo - non-basmati rice and wheat - have been diverted to steel vessels which has affected a lot of people who are dependent for their livelihood on these vessels," Nathwani said.
"We have lost nearly 90 per cent of our export cargo to many countries due to absence of EDI facility at the ports in Gujarat from where our vessels operate," said A M Mepani, vice president of the Federation of All India Sailing Vessels Industries Association.
The problem has already been brought to the notice of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, he mentioned.
