Context: Recently, Union Minister of State for Shipping inaugurates ‘Direct Port Entry Facility’ at V.O. Chidambaranar port.
Benefits of DPE Facility

• The Direct Port Entry (DPE) Facility would enable the direct movement of containers from factories, without intermediate handling at any Container Freight Station (CFS), thus facilitating the shippers to gate-in their factory stuffed exports directly to the Container Terminal on a 24×7 basis.
• Indian Customs through the Central Warehousing Corporation, DPE facility will generate the Let Export Order (LEO) under a single roof without any hassle.

About the V.O. Chidambaranar Port Trust

• It is an artificial deep-sea harbour formed with rubble mound type parallel breakwaters projecting into the sea up to 4 km.
• Located in Thoothukudi (Tuticorin), the port is strategically situated in the Gulf of Mannar, with Sri Lanka on its southeast and the large Indian landmass on the west.
• It is also close to the east-west international sea route on the Coromandel Coast.
• O. Chidambaranar Port Trust is the only port in South India to provide a direct weekly container service to the United States.
• The port is well sheltered from the fury of storms and cyclonic winds and is operational throughout the year.
• Formerly called the Tuticorin Port Trust, it is one of the 13 major ports in India.
• It is the fourth-largest container terminal in India.
• The modern port was opened in 1974 and is named after freedom fighter V O Chidambaram Pillai.
• Historically, the earliest mention of the Tuticorin port was made in 88 AD in Greek sources. The region was famous for pearl fisheries and trading in pearls.

Maritime India Vision 2030

• It is a ten-year blueprint for the maritime sector which will be released by the Prime Minister of India at the Maritime India Summit in November 2020.
• It will supersede the Sagarmala initiative and aims to boost waterways, give a fillip to the shipbuilding industry and encourage cruise tourism in India.

Policy Initiatives

• Maritime Development Fund: A Rs. 25,000-crore fund, which will provide low cost, long-tenure financing to the sector with the Centre contributing Rs. 2,500 crore over seven years.
• Port Regulatory Authority: A pan-India port authority will be set up under the new Indian Ports Act (to replace the old Indian Ports Act 1908) for enabling oversight across major and non-major ports, enhance institutional coverage for ports and provide for structured growth of the ports sector to boost investor confidence.
• Riverine Development Fund: Calls for extending low cost, long-term financing for inland vessels with the support of a Riverine Development Fund (RDF) and for extending the coverage of the tonnage tax scheme (applicable to ocean-going ships and dredgers) to inland vessels also to enhance the availability of such vessels.
• Rationalisation of Port Charges: It will make them more competitive, besides doing away with all hidden charges levied by ship liners to bring in more transparency.
• Promotion of Water Transport: For decongestion of urban areas, and developing waterways as an alternative means of urban transport.

Development Projects

• Eastern Waterways Connectivity Transport Grid project: It will aim to develop regional connectivity with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.