Shipping Corp Plans To Install Roll-On Roll-Off Services
This will enable loading and unloading of cargo of trucks to be done within the ship itself removing the need for overhauling.
An SCI spokesperson said the company was trying to acquire technical expertise from abroad for the project. The Gujarat Saurashtra road to Bombay has been chosen as the first route on which the roll-on roll-off services will be introduced.
Since roll-on roll-off services are non-existent in India the technical expertise for setting up the infrastructure here has to be sourced from outside.
The corporation is looking for government assistance in acquiring such expertise from countries like The Netherlands and Germany where roll-on roll-off services have been widely available for a long time.
A joint venture company partnered by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), the Shipping Credit and Investment Corporation of India (SCICI) and the Transport Company of India is being formed to install the services.
Finance for the project is expected to be provided through a private equity, borrowed foreign capital and capital raised individually by the three partners.
SCI is likely to face problems while sourcing foreign capital because of the government stipulation of a seven-year compulsory spread on external commercial borrowings (ECBs). This implies that any foreign exchange loan in excess of $15 million has to be repaid over a minimum period of seven years.
Shipping being a highly seasonal industry, profits tend to come lumped together.