• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Who should bear the cost of infrastructure development, the government, or the beneficiaries concerned? In most countries it is the government but not necessarily in India. Take the case of dredging. Except Kolkata port, whose dredging requirement is massive and unique it being a river port, the Government does not bear the cost of dredging in other ports. Each port concerned has to fund it on its own.

The problem arises in case of private ports. The cost of dredging at these ports would get loaded onto port charges, making them high, in some cases even uncompetitive. But, then, the users may not be averse to paying high port charges provided the operation is efficient. So, the effect high cost of dredging may get neutralised by the overall high efficiency of the port.

— OUR BUREAU

More Stories on : Shipping

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Spotlight on safety

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line