Nagapattinam – Kankesanthurai ferry service likely to resume on May 13
COLOMBO – The passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam in India and Kankesanthurai (KKS) near Jaffna in the Northern Province is set to resume on May 13, 2024, the Indian High Commission said in a statement.
Teerming the resumption date ‘tentative’ it said the service will be operated by a private operator, IndSri Ferry Services, selected by the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) and the Government of Sri Lanka.
The ferry service between the two countries was launched in October 2023 by SCI.
The high commission in a statement issued on Sunday (5) said the Government of India would be bearing the cost towards relevant charges and operating costs at Nagapattinam port to the tune of over LKR 25 million per month for one year. This it said would make the service affordable and attractive for passengers.
In a reciprocal move, the Sri Lankan government has also reduced the deviation tax currently charged from passengers leaving Sri Lanka by passenger vessels and ships.
The statement noted that the Indian government had also extended grant assistance of US$ 63.65 million to the Sri Lankan government for the rehabilitation of the KKS Harbour, which was earlier envisaged to be undertaken under a Line of Credit. This, it said was in keeping with India’s strong commitment to Sri Lanka’s economic recovery, and its march towards progress and prosperity, along with and in close collaboration with India.
Strengthening maritime connectivity between India and Sri Lanka was a vital component of the vision document for economic partnership jointly adopted during the visit of the President of Sri Lanka to India in July 2023, the statement noted, highlighting the resumption of the ferry service as an affirmation of the people-centric policies of the Government of India.
The statement also noted that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his remarks during the launch of the ferry service in October 2023 had highlighted that connectivity is not only about bringing two cities closer but bringing countries and their people closer and that the people of Sri Lanka will benefit from the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor launched during the G20 summit in India in September 2023, as multimodal connectivity between our two countries is strengthened.
In the future, connectivity with Sri Lanka will be further enhanced through electricity grid interconnection, two-way multipurpose pipeline and setting up a land connectivity economic corridor, the statement added.
-ENCL/Indian HC
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