To promote coastal shipping of automobiles, all major ports will double the discount to 80 per cent offered on transport of vehicles through Ro-Ro ships.
Roll-on and roll-off (Ro-Ro) ships are special vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars.
India has 12 major ports under the control of the Centre.
"In order to promote transportation of automobiles through coastal shipping, Ministry of Shipping has decided that all major ports will provide discount of 80 per cent for two years on Vessel Related Charges (VRC) and Coastal Related Charges (CRC) for coastal transportation of vehicles through Ro-Ro ships," Ministry of Shipping said in a statement.
The discount has also been extended to other similar ships, it said, adding that promotion of coastal shipping is one of the major thrusts of the ministry.
"In order to make this discount sustainable for the shipping service providers, the major ports will also carry out intensive marketing for demand generation," the statement said.
As per the earlier scheme, coastal vessels, including Ro-Ro ships, used to get a discount of 40 per cent over that of foreign going vessels.
With increase in discount to 80 per cent, it is expected that shipping service providers will be able to attract more automobile cargo through the coastal route and decongest the already congested roads and railways as well as make the Ro-Ro ship service operations more sustainable.
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