Curb in iron ore exports and hike
in duty on outbound shipment have resulted in a number of Centre-owned major
ports incurring heavy losses of business, a top official said on Tuesday.
“All ports have suffered huge
losses of business, including New Mangalore, Ennore, Visakhapatanam, Paradip
and Mormugao,” Shipping Secretary Mr K Mohandas told reporters on the sidelines
of a conference when asked whether curb on exports, new policies and related
developments have impacted ports.
The iron ore exports from the
country last fiscal came down to 97.64 million tonne (MT) while in the first
eight months of the current fiscal, exports dipped by a little over 28 per cent
to 40 MT vis-a-vis the corresponding period last fiscal.
India, the world's third-largest
iron ore exporter, had shipped 117.3 MT of ore in 2009-10.
Apart from this, upward revision
in export duty to 30 per cent, the miners say will result in total shipments
unlikely to exceed 50 MT in the current fiscal, which is further bound to
impact the ports.
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