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Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project
The Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project (SSCP) involves linking the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar on the east coast of India by creating a shipping canal through Rameswaram Island, providing a continuous navigable sea route around the Indian peninsula within India 's own territorial waters. This will save 400 nautical miles and upto 36 hours of sailing time for ships between east and west coast. The canal can also be used by Naval and Coast Guard ships thereby the project also address to security concerns of the country.
The Indian Government approved on September 9, 2004 plans to form a new company to implement the Sethusamudram Ship Canal Project that will allow ships to avoid circumnavigation around Sri Lanka. The new company Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd., a special purpose vehicle, will raise finances for the project to create a navigable channel from Gulf of Mannar to the Bay of Bengal through Palk Strait , or for any other project in the port sector, an official statement said after a meeting of the cabinet.
The project is estimated to cost Rs.20 billion with a debt equity ratio of 1:1.5. It will involve digging a 44.9 nautical mile channel between India and Sri Lanka . The authorized capital of the company, to be headquartered in Chennai, has been fixed at Rs.8 billion with the Shipping Corporation of India and the Tuticorin Port Trust expected to contribute Rs.500 million each. Five other organizations - Dredging Corporation of India , Chennai Port Trust, Ennore Port Trust, Vishakhapatnam Port Trust and Paradip Port Trust - would contribute Rs.300 million each.
The Sri Lankan Government has set up an inter-Ministerial committee to study the implications of SSCP. The committee headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs will also include the Ministers of Environment and Natural resources, Ports and Aviation, Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Defence and Science and Technology.
The Joint Press Statement issued during PCBK's visit to Delhi in November 2004, stated that ' On the question of the Sethusamudram Canal Project, it was agreed that an exchange of views on the economic and environmental aspects in relation to Sri Lanka would be arranged between the technical experts of India and Sri Lanka .'
An Expert Group has been constituted by the Government of Sri Lanka and the Group had its first round of meetings at New Delhi in Jan, 2005. The Indian delegation was led by Secretary, Department of Shipping and the Sri Lankan delegation was led by Chairman of Sri Lankan National Aquatic Resource Agency. Besides exchange of information, it was decided to continue exchange of views at expert level and look at possible areas of cooperation in projects of such a nature.
The 2nd round of technical level talks on Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP) took place in New Delhi on August 1, 2005. The Indian delegation was led by Mr D T Joseph, Secretary (Shipping), Government of India and the Sri Lankan delegation was led by Mr. Ariaratne Hewege, Advisor, Ministry of Ports and Aviation, Government of Sri Lanka. The talks underscored India 's commitment to information sharing on the Project. At the end of the talks an agreed note was signed which detailed the issues discussed and the data handed over by the Indian side to Sri Lanka.
During the State Visit of His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka to India from December 27-30, 2005, " both sides noted that a positive collaborative relationship was being established for the study and monitoring of the environmental implications of the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project. They endorsed that the outcome of the collaboration must be to reach a common understanding as to whether there are environmental consequences and if so, the action to be taken to mitigate them".
The 3rd round of technical level talks on Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project took place in Colombo on April 21, 2006. The Indian delegation was led by Mr A.K.Bhalla, Joint Secretary (Shipping), Government of India and the Sri Lankan delegation was led by Mr. Ariaratne Hewege, Advisor, Ministry of Ports and Aviation, Government of Sri Lanka. The two sides continued the process of information sharing. Based on study of the data provided by the Indian side during the 2 nd round, the Sri Lankan side discussed their response and handed over copies of studies undertaken by them.
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MoU signed with Suez Canal Authority for Sethu project
Special Correspondent - The Hindu
CHENNAI: A memorandum of understanding was signed between the Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd, India, and the Suez Canal Authority, Egypt, on Saturday for mutual cooperation.
Hussein Abdel Rahman Helmy, Director of Dredging Corporation Department and Member of Board, signed the MoU on behalf of the Suez Authority, while N.K. Raghupathy, Chairman and Managing Director, inked the agreement on behalf of the Sethusamudram Corporation. Minister of Shipping T.R. Baalu was present at the ceremony.
The agreement will be in force for five years and can be reviewed for a similar period by mutual agreement.
Talking to newspersons later, Mr. Baalu said a similar agreement was likely to be reached with the Panama Canal authority and a MoU would be signed soon. The MoU with the Suez Authority did not involve any financial commitment but would provide for exchange of information, expertise and technological advancement. The Suez Authority would help the Corporation in management and maintenance of the Sethu channel and collection of toll.
Joint working group
An official note of the Corporation said the MoU would facilitate and promote the construction, operation and management of the Sethu channel, train personnel in construction, operation, maintenance and management of ship channels, develop programmes that encouraged technical cooperation between the two authorities, promote best practices through exchange of personnel, and identify and promote cooperation in other areas of mutual interest. A joint working group would be set up for the implementation of the MoU.
At a meeting after the signing ceremony, Mr. Baalu said there were several commonalities between the Suez Canal and the Sethu Channel. The lengths of both channels were almost the same, with maintenance and operation requiring periodic dredging. As coordinated sharing and integration of strengths of the two organisations would bring about the requisite synergy, the Corporation decided to seek the Suez Authority's cooperation in implementing the project. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M. Karunanidhi, whose speech was read out in his absence, said India and Egypt had been helpful to each other during the last five decades. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Egypt's President Nasser were the architects of the Non-Aligned Movement.
When Egypt fought for its sovereign rights over the Suez Canal, India boldly supported that country. He hoped that Rs. 60 crores allotted by the Corporation would be used for developing at least five fishery harbours at Tondi, Sethubhavachatram, Muthupet, Mallipattinam and Nagapattinam, besides creating basic infrastructure in and around the fishermen hamlets.
Shipping Secretary D.T. Joseph said the association would help the Sethusamudram authorities to gain from the Suez Authority's experience. He wanted more private investments in improving infrastructure not only at ports but also in providing services to ships. Any delay at a port cost $100,000 a day to the ships. He also wanted dry-docking to be exempted from service tax.
Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt in India Kheir Eldin A. Latif said the project would further cement the relationship between the two countries.
Mr. Raghupathy said the MoU would be a step towards early completion of the Sethu project
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