The Shipping Ministry has sought a Rs 10,000 crore loan from the Finance Ministry in view of the international credit crunch domestic shipping companies are facing in enhancing fleet.

"We have approached the Finance Ministry for a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore," Shipping Secretary APVN Sarma told reporters here today on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Kolkata campus of the Indian Maritime University.

The Indian National Shipowners Association had sought the Centre's help to create at least a $2 billion (about Rs 10,000 crore) fund to provide soft loans as low-cost money from abroad is increasingly drying up due to the global financial crunch.

According to sources, Indian shipping companies have laid out a plan for $20 billion in the next four years to acquire vessels to maintain their marketshare.

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