India's Cargo Growth To Be Strong In Long Run : ICRA

MUMBAI: Ratings agency ICRA expects the growth in cargo to be strong over the medium to long term, driven by domestic requirements of coal and crude oil for power and other sectors, ICRA said.

It expects an increase in iron ore volume due to scrapping of export duty on low grades of the ore and resumption of mining in Goa.

On regulatory front, the draft Central Port Authorities Act is likely to usher in the changes that would allow incumbents to take investment decisions at Major Ports with more clarity, it said.

The Ministry of Shipping has chalked out a road map over the next 5-10 years, wherein significant investments would be made in the sector to boost trade and development, it added.

“In the long run, ICRA believes the implementation of the project could lead to increased cargo for the ports, however, several challenges remain given the vast scale of the project and significant funding resources and PPP participation required to make the targets a reality,” it said.

ICRA said the actual materialisation of the plans could take significant time given the time consuming legislative framework required for efficient collaboration between the Central and State Governments, it added.

Source: Dailyshippingtimes.com