Vishwapati Trivedi, who took over as Shipping Secretary on Monday, said the port sector would see deregulation on the lines that was witnessed by the country’s capital market.
Citing the example of how Securities and Exchange Board of India replaced the Controller of Capital Issues and the subsequent reforms in IPO pricing, Trivedi said the port regulations, constrained by legacy issues, need a fresh look, to attract more investors to the sector.
Currently, the tariffs at the government-owned ports were regulated by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, commonly referred as TAMP. Private investors into port projects have been seeking tariff deregulation.
At a function organised to mark the silver jubilee celebration of Jawaharlal Nehru Port here today, Trivedi said the Ministry is bringing out some changes in the port tariff structure and the final guidelines would be announced in three weeks. In March, the Ministry issued draft guidelines, seeking comments from the stakeholders. All new projects implemented by the Major Port will be governed by the new guidelines.
Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan said his Ministry has drawn up plans to award 30 projects in the current fiscal with an estimated investment of Rs 25,000 crore to increase the port capacity by 282 million tonnes. Last fiscal, the Ministry awarded 32 projects costing Rs 6,765 crore to create additional capacity of 136 million tonnes, he said.
The Minister of State for Shipping Milind Deora said JNPT with several projects will make it a multi-purpose hub for India’s international trade.
“This is crucial not only for the maritime sector, but also for the economies of Maharashtra and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, in particular,” he said.
JNPT, commissioned in 1989, is the biggest container port in the country.