The Ministry of Shipping in India admitted that the economic recession had affected business at major ports across the country, the Hindu reported.
Shipping Minister G K Vasan announced the constitution of a committee to revisit the policies that directly had a bearing on the functioning of the major ports, in the context of the recession.
In his written reply to a question, Vasan conceded that the growth rate of traffic handled by major ports had come down to 2.13 percent during 2008-09 as compared to 11.97 per cent during 2007-08. He attributed the decline to the financial slowdown.
The worst affected was the container traffic segment, which largely reflected trade in manufacture and components, growing by a marginal 0.9 percent in 2008-09 compared to the robust 25.6 percent in 2007-08.
Besides setting up a committee to look into the matter, the government has initiated measures towards augmentation of infrastructure, including deepening of channels, modernisation of cargo handling facilities.
Cargo News Asia
Login
