West Bengal needs a deep sea port if it has to take advantage of the export business

The meeting was addressed by the chairman of Calcutta Freight Brokers Association (CFBA), Rajiv Agarwall and immediate past president Bharat Jain.

Key issues discussed included the problems of Kolkata Port and Good and Services Tax (GST).

Speaking about the problems of Kolkata port, Agarwall told IBNS: "There are several problems in the Calcutta port like river draft as well as development issues, which needs to be looked at on immediate basis."

"Moreover, West Bengal needs a deep sea port immediately, in which the state is lacking. If the deep sea port is not constructed, the export business will go outside the state leading to a loss for the state."

However, the CFBA has got limited scope of making the deep sea port as the task completely rests with the Ministry of Shipping and Transport. We are proposing locations for the deep sea port but the rest will be done at the ministry level, the chairman said.

GST, which was launched on June 30 midnight, has already been implemented, said Agarwall.

Jain informed that as per the GST rule, 5% tax has been imposed on ocean freight, which was earlier tax free.

In other freights, the earlier tax rate of 15% has been increased to the 18% slab.