Then Colachel in Tamil Nadu is being considered for a container terminal. And Tuticorin, where PSA has invested, plans to have a new outer harbour with a major focus on container handling.
And the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project, which involves the dredging of a ship channel to connect the Gulf of Myanmar and Bay of Bengal through Palk Strait, will provide shipping lines with a direct route between India’s east and west coasts, meaning vessels can bypass the Port of Colombo.
However, India is still expensive compared with Sri Lanka. The government charges lines for the extensive dredging necessary to make India’s much silted coastline approachable. The average call cost per 3,000 teu vessel is $32,000 in India as compared with $7,000 in Colombo, $8,000 in Singapore and $12,000 in Hong Kong. Cost is still a hurdle the Indians have to counter.