Bright days are ahead for the Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) with the Ministry of Shipping deciding in-principle to pay off Rs.302 crore towards the outstanding amount for dredging operations undertaken at the Sethusamudram Project.
An expert committee has recommended the payment of the amount after approval by the Union Cabinet. Confirming the development, DCI Chairman-cum-Managing Director Capt. D.K. Mohanty told The Hindu on Wednesday that their financial health would improve substantially once they received the amount.
During 2013-14, the DCI recorded a 21 per cent growth with the operational income increasing to Rs.770.4 crore from Rs.634.91 crore in the previous year. For this fiscal year, it has set a target of Rs. 850 crore for operational income.
The DCI has been waiting for a long to get the dues for the dredging operations it carried out in the Palk Straits in 2006 under most difficult circumstances. It was part of the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project executed by the Sethusamudram Corporation Limited (SCL), a special purpose vehicle. The SPV was set up to take up comprehensive dredging to facilitate a navigable channel through the Palk Straits between India and Sri Lanka. The project was envisaged to create a navigable route between the East Coast and West Coast of India to prevent ships bound for East Coast taking a circuitous route to Lankan islands to harbour at Chennai, Tuticorin, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and other ports.
Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari has already informed the Supreme Court and Parliament that the Centre would revive the project without demolishing the Ram Sethu. Sources said that the project work would start by changing the alignment.
The DCI has invested Rs.30 crore towards equity in the Sethusamudram Corporation Limited. The Shipping Corporation of India and the ports of Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Tuticorin, Paradip and Ennore are the other equity-holders.
