Members of the Sri Lankan tourism industry have said the Indo-Lanka ferry service that commenced earlier this week would further be expanded.

Head of the Chamber of Tourism and Industry, M.A. Jaufer has told the Daily Mirror that in three weeks' time, the ferry service is to expand into transporting cargo as well.

According to Jaufer, people in many parts of the country have shown an interest in the Indo-Lanka ferry service that currently operates between Tuticorin port in Tamil Nadu and Colombo.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jeyaram however has called on the central government of India to cancel the ferry service soon after it was launched.

The 9-story vessel Scotia Prince, flagged off on June 13, currently operates between Tuticorin and Colombo twice a week on the 14-hour journey. It can accommodate 1,044 passengers in 307 cabins and can carry a cargo of 300 tons.

Governments of India and Sri Lanka are also working on resuming the Rameshwaram-Thalaimannar ferry service which was discontinued in the 1980s.

The passenger ferry service between Thalaimannar and Rameswaram will commence once the requisite infrastructure is put in place on both sides, India said.