cochin port authority: cabinet approves 3-year loan repayment moratorium for cochin port authority

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a three-year moratorium (2020-23) for the Cochin Port Authority (CoPA) to repay the balance of Indian government loans amounting to Rs 446.83 crore to deal with the financial crisis due to COVID-19, says an official statement. The amount was to be repaid in 10 installments starting in 2018-2019. However, Cochin Port Authority could only pay installments for 2018-19 and 2019-20.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has “approved a three-year moratorium (2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23) at the Cochin Port Authority (CoPA) for the repayment of outstanding balance of Government of India (GoI) Loans amounting to Rs 446.83 crore to overcome financial crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

As of 2020-21, traffic was heavily impacted due to the pandemic, which negatively impacted CoPA’s cash inflows such that it was unable to pay installments for 2020- 21 and 2021-22.

Cochin Port was brought under the Principal Port Authority Act 2021 with effect from November 2021.

On August 24, 2016, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved a proposal for relief from penal interest on Government of India loans contracted by the Port of Cochin for various infrastructure development activities from 1936-37 to 1994-95.