Tuticorin Port offers special incentives for raw cashew

Kochi: Competition between various domestic ports seems to have been hotting up with the offers of various concessions to shipping lines to attract cargo to the respective ports.

This was evident from the recent notification in the Web site of the Tuticorin Port Trust offering special incentive schemes for raw cashew.

In one of the schemes, the port trust is offering up to 10 per cent concession in marine charges to vessels bringing raw cashew from Africa provided these vessels did not call at the Cochin Port Trust.

The trade information on Web site http://www.tuticorinport.gov.in/incen/incentive.htm says, 'As far as raw cashew in container is concerned, direct calls by the container vessels from Africa shall attract marine charges with 10 per cent concession provided the particular vessel does not call at the Kochi port during the same voyage and at least 80 per cent of the containers carrying raw cashew are destined for the Tuticorin port.'

The offer is part of the special incentive for raw cashew import offered by the Tuticorin port, which is part of the incentive scheme formulated for the year 2006-07 to attract more volume of cargo and vessels to the port.

The Tuticorin port is also offering 50 per cent rebate in wharfage to the whole quantity of imported raw cashew as break bulk cargo.

'The concession which was hitherto extended for storage of raw cashew nut allowing free days from 5 to 10 days shall continue to exist until it is modified by the Board,' says the Web site.

Cashew has been one of the traditional items that had been handled by the Kochi port. During the last five years, the port's share of the cashew business in the country has been on the rise. Raw cashew import through the Kochi port stood at 64,000 tonnes in 2000-01. It went up to 3.12 lakh tonnes as per the provisional figures for 2005-06.

Similarly, the export of cashew kernel through the port stood at 57,000 tonnes in 2000-01and it increased to 1.08 lakh tonnes in 2005-06 (provisional figure).