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Government to scrap over 100 archaic laws of shipping sector: minister

INDIA is in the midst of weeding out several archaic shipping rules, some of which are over 100 years old, to clear the way for growth drivers of the Indian economy, reports the Press Trust of India.

"We have scrapped about 20 archaic laws which has no relevance today and will weed out more such obsolete provisions," Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari told PTI.

The industry has long complained of "biased" taxation and operational issues that have been hurting the interest of Indian shipping companies, including for import of goods and purchase of ships.

"We are re-looking at most of our Acts some of which are more than 100 years old and we expect that in the next six-months we should be able to revamp Acts like Major Ports Act, Merchant Shipping Act, doing away with Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) and so on," Shipping Secretary Rajive Kumar said.

The government this month approved a proposal for financial assistance of 20 per cent for ships built in the country, while providing for a budgetary support of a INR40 billion (US$603.4 million) expenditure.

Mr Gadkari said the government is also planning to set up two new ports - one in Maharashtra and the second in Tamil Nadu - in addition to already approved Sagar port in West Bengal and work on these ports will begin by March.

"Converting rivers across the country into waterways will usher in unexpected economic growth for the country," he said.

Inland water transport is considered very cost-effective as far as fuel efficiency is concerned, Mr Gadkari said, while adding these waterways can help India join the "league of European nations whose economy thrive due to their waterways".