Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

CPI(M) critical of RINL's long-term pact with Gangavaram port

VISAKHAPATNAM: CPI (M) district secretary Ch. Narsinga Rao and Visakha Steel Workers' Union deputy general secretary V. Dhanaraju on Wednesday said the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited management should not sign the long-term agreement for handling coking coal with Gangavaram Port Limited unless the handling cost was reduced drastically.

While admitting that Gangavaram Port would be a better option if the cargo handling rate was brought down remarkably, they told reporters that the management of GPL was trying to get more profit by charging exorbitantly at the rate of Rs.279 per tonne.

Replying to questions, Mr. Rao said as per the base line price fixed by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, per tonne handling cost was fixed at Rs.130.70, which includes a margin of 16 per cent.

But the actual cost spent by RINL for handling a tonne at Visakhapatnam Port was going up to Rs.300 per tonne due to railway hauling, demurrage, stevedoring and other expenses.

Since at Gangavaram Port there was no demurrage and stevedoring charges, per tonne handling cost should be brought down substantially to pass on the benefit to RINL.

Advantage

The CPI (M) leader said the signing of 15-year agreement would only benefit GPL management immensely and pointed out that the advantage of saving approximately Rs.200 crores per annum towards freight cost by not transporting coking coal from Visakhapatnam Port to RINL's Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, a distance of 28 km, should be passed on RINL if the raw material was handled at Gangavaram.

On the claim by GPL management that they had an exit clause without any condition, he said as per their information if RINL decided to exit in five years, it had to be done with mutually agreeable terms. Mr. Rao said the Visakhapatnam Port would also be in a position to have modern technology in place for handling coking coal by 2012 with the signing of agreement with Sterlite Industries by using ‘bottle model.'

He said the construction of Gangavaram Port was violation of the norm that there should not be another port of a major port within a distance of 30 km.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

CPI(M) critical of RINL's long-term pact with Gangavaram port
Waltair division neglected for long, says Purandeswari
PF official warns defaulting employers
MILAN-2010 gets under way
ECoR GM commissions rake complex
Energy Park inaugurated
BJP, CPI demand separate railway zone

Copyright © 2010, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu