Cabinet approves waiver of penal interest on government loans availed of by CPT

The CCEA has given its approval for the waiver of penal interest on government loans worth Rs 8.97 billion availed of by the Cochin Port Trust (CPT). The CCEA also gave its approval to freeze the liability on account of government loans, interest thereon and penal interest at 0.25 per cent amounting to Rs 5.57 billion. The CCEA further approved the rescheduling of repayment of the frozen amount over 10 years, commencing 2018-19. The port trust had availed of loans worth Rs 1.68 billion from the government for various developmental activities. The non-repayment of these loans attracted penal interest worth Rs 9.14 billion. However, CPT could not repay the loans since the projected revenue from the capital investment was not sufficient to cover the interest component.