The Hindu Business Line : Govt to finalise cruise shipping policy

A steering group on Cruise Shipping met on Wednesday under the Chairmanship of Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Mr T. R. Baalu, for giving a final shape to the Cruise Shipping Policy, an official release said here on Thursday.

The group discussed the draft Cruise Shipping Policy formulated on the basis of recommendations given by five working groups, which were constituted to look into matters concerning taxation, immigration, connectivity, identification of ports to be developed for cruise shipping and customs issues, it said.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Union Tourism Minister, Ms Ambika Soni, the release added. The policy would be forwarded to the other ministries for inter-ministerial consultations after incorporation of inputs on river cruising from the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and on environmental concerns of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The group would also take measures to promote cruise shipping in the eastern part of the country, the release said.

Officials from the Finance Ministry also participated in the meeting, it added. In a related move, Mr Baalu met the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on Thursday and presented a cheque of Rs 504 crore as negative grant to the Government.

The amount was paid by IDAA Infrastructure Pvt Ltd to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as an upfront payment towards road improvement work on a 65 km stretch on NH-8 under NHDP Phase V, the release said.