According to press release, the exemption comes as part of the government's bid to develop coastal shipping and provide incentives to the sailing vessels.

Light dues are collected from ships entering or leaving the country's port by the customs authorities on behalf of the Department of Lighthouses and Lightships for aids to marine navigation provided by the department.The department has 167 lighthouses and other navigation aids spread over 7516 km of the country's coastline. The superintendence and management of general aids to navigation is vested in the Department of Lighthouses and Lightship, under the Union ministry of surface transport. The local aids are the responsibility of the concerned state governments and the port trusts.Thecoastal vessels include home trade vessels up to 3000 gross registered tonnage (GRT) and also vessels with more than 3000 GRT which are treated as "foreign going" vessels for the purpose of light dues. The rates of dues are different in both the categories. The total lighthouse revenue as per present rates work out to about Rs 6 crore a year.