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Tonnage tax return will improve shipping industry prospects

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI, FEB. 21. The shipping industry is also experiencing a `feel-good factor,' following recent government initiatives and in another couple of years India will cross the 10-million tonnage mark, the Director-General of Shipping, G.S. Sahni, said here yesterday. The industry would benefit from the announcement by the Union Finance Minister in Parliament that the tonnage tax collected from it would be given back.

``This decision means a lot to the shipping industry. By this decision on tonnage tax, I expect more ships in the country and the industry to grow,'' he said. The country had for long stuck with a 6.5-million tonnage capacity though for a while in the early 1990s it touched 7.1-million tonnage. Strict vigil was kept on private maritime training institutes to ensure adherence to world-class standards. A fresh set of guidelines for nautical courses would be implemented from April 1. There was also a proposal to introduce a system of rating for the institutions done by reputed agencies. The guidelines looked into availability of infrastructure, faculty, training facility, course duration and hands-on training.

Mr. Sahni was speaking at a passing-out parade by the first batch of marine engineering graduates at the R.L. Institute of Nautical Sciences here. Naresh Salecha, senior Deputy Director-General of Shipping, who inaugurated a mock-up fire fighting unit at the institute, said a core committee in the Directorate had framed guidelines and a check was on to prevent mushroom growth of the institutes and courses. He handed over the ISO 9001:2000 certificate to the institute president, R. Lakshmipathy. The mock-up ship, Mr. Lakshmipathy said, cost a few crores and would be ready on the campus in about 10 months.

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