All the 11 major ports in the country handled 162.09 million tonnes of cargo during the April-November of the current financial year which is about 12.7 per cent more than the traffic handled during the same period the previous year. The highest growth recorded was at New Mangalore Port which Handled 10.07 million tonnes during April-November 1997. It handled 7.6 million tonnes of cargo during the same period in 1996.

Increased liquidity sought to pep up pepper exchange

The Indian Pepper and Spices Trade Association (IPSTA) has proposed increasing liquidity and flexibility in trading, besides various other measures to attract more domestic participation in the International Commodity Exchange (ICE) for pepper, IPSTA president Vidyasagar has said.We have suggested relative measures for increasing liquidity and flexibility in contracts for increased domestic participation in ICE, he said.

Karnataka board signs power purchase agreements

The Karnataka Electricity Board (KEB) has signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with six independent power producers (IPPs), including a company from the united states, for both barge-mounted and land-based projects of capacities totalling to 506.6 mw. With the signing of PPAs in the presence of the chief minister JH Patel, last night IPPs would be able to proceed in various key project activities and also approach financial institutions, both domestic and international, for financing of the projects.

Fund crunch may hit railway project

Work on doubling of the Shoranur-Mangalore railway track may get delayed owing to fund crunch. Though Southern Railway is optimistic about completion of the project in the scheduled three-year period, sources expressed doubts in this regard. Southern Railway chief engineer R Gopinathan admits that the project may get dealyed if the funds are not forthcoming. For the next three years, a sum of Rs 350 crore would be needed. So far by March 1998, Rs 65 crore would have been utilised.

Handloom exporters' plea

The Apparels and Handloom Exporters Associationhas appealed to the government to sympathetically review the shortfall in utilisation of export entitlements as heavy rains in south India prevented the exporters from completing exports in time. In a memorandum sent to the textiles secretary it has requested that these failures be treated as force majeure conditions and be considerate. In most cases the non-utilisation is due to factors beyond the control of the exporters.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.