Tamil Nadu textile entrepreneurs’ move to shun Gujarat cotton and go for unadulterated alternatives from Maharashtra and Andhra is having a ripple impact on coastal shipping between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu’s 2.25 crore cotton spindle capacity is a sizeable target for Indian shippers aggressively cutting prices to compete with truckers, who have benefitted from the sliding price of crude oil. The push for coastal shipping also comes from the directorate general of shipping, Mumbai, which is consulting with the shipping and finance ministries to incentivise it.
But a spanner in the works for the coastal shipping plans has been the persisting problem of adulteration. Cotton mills representatives, vessel charterers and representatives from the shipping ministry and DG shipping had met to look at ways to promote coastal shipping.
