A passenger ferry service that goes to multiple destinations is being considered as a previous effort for a journey between two points was not financially viable, Indian High Commissioner to Colombo Santosh Jha said.
There were hopes that a ferry service from Nagapatnam in India to Kankasanthurai in Sri Lanka would start from February 2024, but its regular services have yet to start.
The key problem was the ticket prices were very high, High Commissioner Jha told a forum organized by Sri Lanka’s Press Club.
Due to the high costs India had decided to subsidize the ferry which may amount to ‘millions of Sri Lanka rupees’ every day.
Sri Lanka has also offered concessions. Sri Lanka has said the embarkation tax for ferry passengers will be cut to 5 dollars compared to 60 dollars for air tickets.
With the combination of governmental support, it is now possible to run the ferry, he said.
A more viable proposition is between Rameswaran in Tamil Nadu and Talaimannar in Sri Lanka.
The Shipping Corporation of India had called for expressions of interest with the option of a calling at multiple destinations, which may improve the viability of the service, High Commissioner Jha said.
Source: Econonmynext
