Major Ports Authority Bill, awarding autonomy to port administration, passed in the Parliament

New Delhi: – The Parliament has passed the Major Ports Authority Bill, awarding autonomy to government port administrations, to give them a level playing field to compete against the private ports. The Rajya Sabha passed the bill on Wednesday. Accusations were being levelled that with this bill, the public sector ports will go in the hands of the private players. Mansukh Mandaviya, the minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways shot down the accusation. This bill is not for the privatisation of the major ports but only to make the public sector ports more capable of competing with the private players.

Union Minister Mandaviya said, ‘There are 12 major public sector ports in the country. After India’s independence, the Port Trust Act was passed in 1963, but there were very few major ports in the country at that time. But now, there are many small and large ports operational in the country. Private players have entered the sector, thus increasing competition. If the public sector ports have to sustain this competition, amendments to the existing Port Trust law are mandatory. The decision making of the port administrations has to be enhanced. They should not depend on New Delhi for all their major decisions, and therefore, this new Major Ports Authority Bill has been brought.’

The Indian government is developing the ports on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) principle. The loss-making Kolkata and Haldia ports have been developed through PPP. The government has initiated these steps over the last few years. This has brought the loss-making ports also in profit. Mandaviya underlined in the Parliament that currently, all the public sector ports are making profits.

India has been using marine freight movement since ancient times. India had progressed in the sector. The British, who came to India, also were attracted by this Indian prosperity. They also used the India waterways to the fullest. But after that, the waterways were somehow neglected. Mandaviya said that now the government is focusing on the development of ports and waterways.

Waterways of 4,000 kilometres have been developed in the country, and they are in use. Work is being carried out on 300 port development projects to increase the marine freight movement in the coastal areas. Union Minister Mandaviya pointed out, during the discussions in the Rajya Sabha, that freight movement in the ports has increased in the last five years and has reached 700 million tonnes.