New Delhi: Industry body CII today  (Nov 19, 2006)called for evolving a new mechanism for reviving India's maritime sector to increase private sector investments and enable more efficient management.

Development of core infrastructure, port sector in particular, is crucial for the sector to become globally competitive, CII said in a release.

In a joint study on the Indian Maritime sector with KPMG, the chamber said that with the increase in number of ships at the Indian ports, providing facilities like ship repair would not only strengthen the sector but also result in generating job opportunities for local population.

The chamber said that though Indian ports have a price advantage over other international ports, there is a need to develop conducive policies to provide growth opportunities to private players so that they are at par with the international players.

The report calls for a need to focus on five broad aspects namely, ship building and repair industry, global maritime security environment, ports, hinterland connectivity and human resource development for the overall growth of shipping industry in India.

The chamber also sought tax benefits for the shipping industry and said it pays as many as 12 different taxes which makes the sector uncompetitive when compared to other international players.