THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An ambitious move to expand the coastal movement of foodgrains from Andhra Pradesh to Kerala by including two more ports – Kollam and Vizhinjam – will soon become a reality. As per the plan, Food Corporation of India (FCI) will bring in foodgrains from Kakkinada and Krishnapattanam in AP to three ports in the state – Vizhinjam, Kollam and Kochi.
A pre-bid meeting of shipping contractors for moving foodgrains through coastal sea route for Public Distribution System held here on Tuesday, looked into different options in this regard. The State Government offered a subsidy of one rupee per tonne per kilometre for movement of cargo through coastal route within the Kerala coast.
This would enable Food Corporation of India to save Rs 6 lakh for every segment of the about 70,000 MTs getting discharged through Kollam port. The possibility of bringing cargo to the existing port at Vizhinjam was discussed during the meeting.
As part of this, the prospective bidders were explained about the available facilities here. It has been pointed out that once induction of stocks through Vizhinjam commences it will boost the confidence of other industries which can utilise the port services.
It was in 2014 that the first lot of PDS stocks were brought to Kerala from Kakkinada through sea route on an experimental basis. As many as six depots of Kerala were filled with grains through this mode.Food Corporation of India adopted the new method considering the heavy demurrage imposed by the railways and also to curtail the contamination of stocks which are being taken in fertiliser/cement/coal-loaded wagons.
With coastal movement of foodgrains, Food Corporation of India could reduce the dependence on railways. During 2012-14, the average demurrage paid to railways was Rs 160 while in 2013-14 it was Rs 64. However, after the coastal movement of foodgrain started to six depots, the demurrage came down to Rs 42.With the introduction of more depots and ports, it’s expected that there will be further fall in the demurrage paid by FCI to the railways, said an official statement.
The pre-bid meeting was attended by Ports director Sheik Pareeth, Food Corporation of India Kerala general manager J S Syju and Food Corporation of India Andhra Pradesh general manager A Rajagopal.The tenders from various bidders to operate the service would be opened on Thursday. Coastal Route a Blessing for FCI
T’Puram: A total quantity of 10.9 lakh quintals of food grains were transported from March 2014 to April 2015. The FCI saved about Rs 60 lakhs through this mode of movement compared to the rail movement, as the coastal route was more efficient with only a negligible loss to food grains and zero contamination.
