There are about 1,500 ships registered under the Merchant Shipping Act in India, out of which about 1,000 ships have been designated as exclusive ‘coastal’ ships.Mumbai: The eligibility criteria announced by the Ministry of Finance on September 19 to provide infrastructure conditions to large commercial ships is a step in the right direction, although it leaves a large portion of vessels, which especially provides assistance services to ports and offshore oil industry for cargo.
According to a notification issued by the Finance Ministry on 19 September, commercial ships with Indian -owned and flag will be 10,000 and up or up or above or Indian, owned, owned and more than 1,500 GT or flagged commercial ships of 1,500 G or more will be given a gross tonne (GT), ownership and flagged.
The condition of infrastructure for large commercial ships creates opportunities for Indian fleet owners to secure long -term and low -cost money for ship acquisition.
Accepting the decision as a step in the right direction, Rakesh Singh, president of the Indian coastal ship owners, expressed his disappointment over the owners of “small” ships, who were denying the benefits coming with the infrastructure situation.
Singh said, “What have we got after years with the government? There is nothing for coastal shipping.”
There are about 1,500 ships registered under the Merchant Shipping Act in India, out of which about 1,000 ships have been designated as exclusive ‘coastal’ ships. Out of this, 500 ‘coastal ships’ – tugs, drawers, offshore ships – will fail to qualify for ‘infrastructure benefits’ under the current scheme.
Singh said, “These ships are the backbone of the ports and offshore oil industry and are the expansion of ports and offshore infrastructure.
The local shipping industry has been lobbying the government for many years to provide infrastructure status for ships to secure low cost money and reduce cash flow issues.
Large vessels above a specified size will be included in the Infrastructure Hermonized Master List, Finance Minister Nirmala Ceitman said that while presenting the Union Budget in Parliament on 1 February, acknowledging the long pending demand of local ship owners.
Since then, ministries of finance and ports, shipping and waterways have been engaged in discussion to finalize the norms of giving fleet owners to the long -term, low -cost funds.
The demand of ship owners and supported by the Directorate General of Shipping were supported that a technical benchmark was to adopt a length of 24 meters or 500 gross tonnes as a technical benchmark to provide infrastructure conditions. But it seems that Mandarin was not convinced in the Finance Ministry.
Singh said, “The criteria set by the Ministry of Finance is also not in the sink with the recently implemented coastal shipping act, which attempts to promote coastal shipping and also promotes the Marine Vision 2030 and Marine Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.”
A look at the order books of the Indian shipyard will reveal the size (gross tonne load) of the vessels under order or construction. The technical criteria prescribed for infrastructure conditions can also deprive “inland vessels”, which are often small in size.
Significantly, in the Union Budget, the government increased the benefits of the scheme by paying a so -called tonne weight for inland vessels registered under the Inland Wessals Act, 2021. The ton load is a levy that is a levy based on cargo carrying cargo capacity compared to corporate tax.
The Eligibility Criteria set by the Ministry of Finance for the infrastructure situation for large commercial ships also goes against the sentiment expressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Sunday.
Emphasizing that an unwavering commitment for the path of self-sufficiency is required to achieve the goal of a developed India, Modi said in his address that India is a big responsibility in making MSME-India subtle, small and cottage industries self-sufficient. He said that whatever the needs of people meet and can be manufactured within the country should be produced domestic.
Singh said, “The government is supporting MSME from every side and the Finance Ministry has set a criteria here which keeps a large part of the coastal shipping area out of the benefit of the infrastructure.”
