The Hindu Business Line : Port, dock workers flay dredging policy

Kochi, April 8 All India Port and Dock Workers’ Federation has come out against the dredging policy of the Union Government, saying that the guidelines in the policy will only entertain foreign dredging companies to carry out maintenance dredging in major ports in the country.

The guidelines issued by the Government, though intended to encourage Indian dredging companies, are only helping foreign companies to sustain and dominate the dredging work in major ports in the country, Mr P.M. Mohammed Hannef, General Secretary of the federation, said in a statement.

He pointed out that Indian dredging companies, with successful track records, were disqualified due to the failure to fulfil the pre-qualifying criteria, especially in terms of financial criteria prescribed.

One of the guidelines involves stringent prequalification norms. He said the pre-qualification norms have nothing to do with the channel of particular depth and length.

These pre-qualification norms only help foreign companies. As a result of insistence on these pre-qualification norms, Indian companies could not participate in the bid called for dredging operations.

Rocketing rates

According to the federation, wherever foreign dredging companies were the sole qualified ones, ports had to reckon with conditional bids and pay double or triple the amount of the original cost; had to go in for re-tenders or totally abandon the work. Instead of prescribing financial turnover as the pre-qualification norm, the federation suggested that the quantity of dredging carried out over a period of time could be the criterion.

The federation also alleged that the formation of cartels by foreign dredging companies had resulted in incurring huge expenses for ports in carrying out maintenance dredging, one of the major revenue expenditure of major ports. Foreign companies were exploiting the situation by quoting skyrocketing rates and the cost of dredging went up considerably. Even the Government had not taken any measures to optimise the cost of dredging.

The federation pointed out that Dredging Corporation of India is also facing stiff competition from foreign dredging companies. The corporation is able to survive only because of the protection given to it by the Government, which earmarked some major ports exclusively to it.

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