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Shipping Corpn.’s mega plans

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, T. R. Baalu, said on Thursday that the public sector Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has prepared an ambitious plan to add over 41 lakh dead weight tonnage (dwt) in the XI Plan, which will involve an outlay of about Rs. 13,135 crore.

Addressing the 15th meeting of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his ministry here on Wednesday, the Minister said “We need to give shipping, and especially the SCI, all the encouragement and support it requires to maintain its numero uno position in the Indian shipping scene.”

According to him, SCI has, since its inception, paid Rs. 1,487.47 crore to the Government as dividend and it is the only shipping company to have ever crossed the Rs. 1,000 crore net profit threshold. The Minister informed the Members that the corporation had set up joint ventures with reputed international partners for carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) which would give it new business opportunities. He also said that the corporation had entered into a joint venture with world renowned partners like MOL & NYK Lines of Japan & ‘Q’ ships of Qatar for carrying LNG for the Petronet project. SCI also has one of the oldest maritime joint ventures in Iran with Irano-Hind Shipping Company.Mr. Baalu pointed out that the country possessed the largest merchant shipping fleet among the developing countries today and it was ranked 20th in the world in terms of shipping tonnage.

To boost the entire maritime sector, the UPA Government had formulated and was implementing a National Maritime Development Programme. Participating in discussions, the Members suggested that the corporation should prepare a blueprint for the next 20 years to meet the growing demands of sea transportation in the liberalised scenario. They also expressed concern over the lack of maritime training facilities resulting in shortage of manpower.

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