India Calls on Vehicle Makers to Ship Their Products

Indian Minister of Shipping has called upon all automobile manufactures to use coastal shipping mode for transporting their vehicles.

Shri Nitin Gadkari, the country’s Minister of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways and Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, informed that, besides saving time, coastal transport will also be more cost effective and environment friendly.

The announcement was made on October 28, when the Minister digitally flagged off a vessel MV IDM DOODLE carrying a consignment of 185 trucks from Chennai Port to Mongla port in Bangladesh.

These trucks, which are being exported by M/s.Ashok Leyland Ltd, were being sent to Bangladesh through the land route before, travelling a distance of about 1500 km. Transport by sea is expected to save 15-20 days of travel time.

M/s.Ashok Leyland, which is currently exporting truck chassis to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, as well as other countries in Africa, expects to increase its exporting volume by 80% in the coming years. More than 500 trucks per month are expected to be exported via the sea route.

The Coastal Shipping Agreement between India and Bangladesh was signed during Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh in June 2015. Based on the agreement sea transportation from Indian ports to Bangladesh ports is being treated as coastal movement, making it eligible for 40% concession on vessel related and cargo related charges. For coastal movement through RoRo vessels, 80% concession on vessel related and cargo related charges are applicable in Indian ports.