Major ports to provide 80% discount for transportating vehicles

New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) The Shipping Ministry on Wednesday said that all the major ports will provide a discount of 80 per cent for two years on vessel related charges and costal related charges for costal transportation of vehicles through Ro-Ro ships.

"This discount is also extended to other similar ships such as Ro-Pax, PCC, PCTC, PTC etc. An order in this regard has been issued on September 20, 2016," said a statement from the ministry.

According to the Ministry, in order to make this discount sustainable for the Shipping Service Providers, the Major Ports will also carry out intensive marketing for demand generation.

Under the earlier scheme, coastal vessels including Ro-Ro vessels used to get a discount of 40 per cent over that of foreign going vessels.

"With increase in discount to 80 per cent, it is expected that the Shipping Service Providers will be able to attract more auto-mobile cargo through the coastal route and decongest the already congested roads and railways and also make the Ro-Ro ship service operations more sustainable," the Ministry added.