Following the directive of the Madras High Court, the Chennai port has stopped handling coal and iron ore cargoes.
As a result, the port will lose revenues to the tune of Rs 225 crore — which it earned last year by handling 18 million tonnes of coal and iron ore cargoes, said Mr G.K. Vasan, Union Minster for Shipping.
“This has actually made to give a deep thought on formulating the priorities of the port and overcome the fall out of the judgment,” he said, adding the port will, henceforth, focus on handling clean cargoes including containers, cars, food materials - such as edible oil, and fertilisers.
Mr Atulya Misra, Chairman, Chennai Port Trust, said for the current financial year, the port might report 13-million-tonne drop in volume due to the ban on export or import of dusty cargo.
Mr Vasan and a team of port officials had an interactive meeting with industry representatives to sort out issues such as congestion, connectivity and surcharge, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
According to Mr Vasan, the Capt. V.C.K. Mohan committee has submitted its recommendations on improving the functioning of the Chennai Port Trust.
The authorities are implementing the long-term projects to tackle the issue on a permanent basis rather than taking short-term measures which could help easing the situation temporarily.