Indo-Lanka ferry service resumes from Monday

The ferry service between Kankesanthurai(KKS), Jaffna to Nagapattinam of Tamil Nadu opens on Monday.

A round trip ticket price has been fixed at US $ 114.

The one-way ticket price inclusive of taxes for ferry service which covers 60 nautical miles (110 Km) from Nagapattinam to KKS is fixed at USD 59 (Rs 17,641) inclusive of  India's eighteen per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) whereas from KKS to Nagapattinam, it is USD 55 (Rs 16,445) after Sri Lankan government agreed to reduce deviation tax by charging only USD 5 from passengers leaving Sri Lanka by passenger vessels and ships.

Meanwhile, India has decided to bear the cost towards applicable taxes and other charges to the tune of over Rs 25 million per month for a period of 1 year, according to the Indian High Commission in Colombo.

Each passenger is allowed 60 Kg of luggage in the ferry service vessel "Sivangangai".

S. Niranjan Nandagopan, Managing Director of IndSri Ferry Service Pvt Ltd, a private venture that operates the service told reporters in Jaffna that the service will further strengthen people-to-people ties with religious pilgrimage trips of all faiths, leisure activities and recently introduced Ramayana Trails featuring tourist spots linked ancient Hindu mythology of Ramayana.

"We are looking at Ramayana Trails. The present Indian government is pushing that. There are a lot of things to see regarding Ramayana in Sri Lanka," he said.

Earlier, the Indian government also extended a grant assistance of USD 63.65 million for the rehabilitation of the KKS Harbour, which was earlier envisaged to be undertaken under a Line of Credit. 

After nearly four decades, the Indo- Lanka ferry service commenced in October last year but it was put on hold after a few days due to bad weather conditions. The last ferry service operated between Mannar and Thoothukdi until 1983.