New Delhi: In a bid to boost coastal trade, the government has decided to exempt vessels carrying exim cargo from paying customs duty on marine fuel, a top official said on Tuesday.
"A decision has been taken that the coastal vessels which are carrying exim cargo or containers will be given duty free fuel ... It suddenly cuts down fuel cost in coastal shipping," Shipping Secretary Vishwapati Trivedi said.
The country at present levies about 25 per cent customs duty on marine fuel.
Removal of tax would draw big container ships to Indian coasts which is spread across 7,500 km area, Trivedi said.
The quick decision making in the current policy scenario of the current government has been very encouraging for the shipping industry, he said addressing a FICCI summit on infrastructure.
Trivedi said that there was also a need to shift the huge amount of transshipment through Indian coastline instead of the present practice of transshipment via Colombo.
Earlier the PMO had asked the shipping ministry to suggest ways to increase transshipment cargo movement in the country and reduce instances of containers offloading in Colombo.
About 60 per cent of India's exports and imports containers are transshipped through ports like Singapore and Colombo. This transshipment through ports outside the country involves an additional expenditure of $300 per container and an extra 7-10 days of transit time.
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