India’s busiest ports at Kandla in Gujarat and Mumbai are further clogged with LPG import vessels as the state-owned oil companies refuse to go beyond a small list of ports that have been designated by the government to give freight subsidies for bringing in the cooking fuel from overseas, sources said.
Under the PDS Kerosene and Domestic LPG Subsidy Scheme of 2002, the government has categorised ports at Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Jamnagar, Hazira, Mangalore, Kochi, Chennai, Haldia and Vizag as ‘Designated Ports’ for giving ocean freight subsidy. This means that state-owned oil marketing companies get reimbursed for freight for any cooking gas LPG imports done by these ports.
