State-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), which runs charter services between India and Myanmar for promoting trade ties, is seeking more industry cooperation to make the operation viable.
"SCI has started direct connectivity for the first time from India to Myanmar for which the commerce ministry has given an one-time start-up subsidy," R K Tandon, senior VP of SCI said.
He said the government would not give any financial help again and the industry would have to extend full cooperation to SCI for making the services viable.
SCI is using the ports of Krishnapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Chennai in India to connect Yangon in Myanmar, he said at an interaction organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce here today.
Preparations were also on to start a coastal shipping service between India and Bangladesh as well, Tandon said.
He said a number of Indian companies like the Tatas, Century Ply and TVS have set up bases in Myanmar.
These companies had been urging the government for long to start services for transporting cargo at a cheaper cost. Earlier, connectivity from India to Myanmar was through Singapore, he said.
India was also preparing a draft concept paper for connectivity with ten ASEAN countries as well, Tandon added.
