New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) The government, which has allowed import of 12 lakh tonne of GM soyameal through Nhava Sheva Port, should also permit shipments via Mumbai Port Trust and Tuticorin Port as the later can handle bulk vessels, edible oil body SEA said on Thursday.
The government has permitted soymeal import vessels and containers to be offloaded only at Nhava Sheva Port, also known as Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Maharashtra.
“Nhava Sheva only handles container cargo and looking at current container scenario worldwide and with freights touching the sky, we feel hardly any goods would come to this port in containers,” Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.
A representation in this regard has been made to the Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhwan and Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) Amit Yadav, it said.
Nhava Sheva port has not handled bulk vessels for a very long time and the infrastructure for handling bulk vessels is totally missing, it added.
In this backdrop, SEA requested the government to “include Mumbai Port Trust also as the discharge port as it can handle bulk vessels”.
SEA also demanded the government to allow discharge at Tuticorin which is closer to consumption centres in order to cater to the southern parts of the country.
“We feel it would be possible to monitor the arrivals of these ports quite comfortably by the government,” it said.
In any case as the window for importing soymeal till October 31 is also very small, it will be very difficult to achieve even 12 lakh tonne arrival, it added.
The government has allowed import of GM soymeal to check domestic prices amid shortages.
Source : Out Look
