Budget leaves port high and dry.

It is a disappointing budget for the Cochin Port Trust, which had sought, among other things, Rs. 400 crore towards the expenditure it had incurred on dredging for the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal.

Kochi being a port that requires dredging operations throughout the year, there was also a petition for financial support to the Cochin Port Trust to acquire its own dredger.

However, 'it is basically a zero for the Cochin Port', sources said on Thursday, pointing out that even the meagre Rs. 27.84 crore mentioned in the Union Budget was actually money that had already been spent.

A memorandum sent to the Union government by employees’ trade unions at the end of last year had pointed out that dredging expenses had gone up from about Rs. 30 crore a year to Rs. 150 crore during the financial year 2013-14.

The cost is expected go further up to Rs. 222 crore during the current financial year.



THE HINDU