The Shipping Ministry, is working to shift to an 80 per cent landlord model, by the end of this decade, to increase efficiency and reduce logistics costs at major ports, a senior government official said on Saturday.

In the landlord model, private players take over the operational aspects, while the port authority acts as a regulator and landlord.

Speaking at the CII Annual Business Summit 2024, Ports, Shipping and Waterways Secretary, TK Ramachandran said that the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), has become the first major port of the country, to become a 100 per cent landlord port, having all berths being operated on a PPP model.

The PPP (public-private partnership) model, is considered an effective tool for attracting investment in the port sector.

"We have 12 major ports, and we have a huge capacity...we want to shift to an 80 per cent landlord model by the end of this decade," Ramachandran said.

He further said the four pillars that the Shipping Ministry, is working on to improve the cost and ease of doing business are developing port-based industrial clusters, investments in the maritime sector, ensuring PPPs and multi-modality.

Ramachandran said that 10 years ago, India had five national waterways. Now, the country has 111 waterways.

"We have reformed the Major Ports Act, the Inland Vessels Act. We have made changes in the model concession agreements (MCAs) to make them more private sector friendly, banking friendly and investment friendly, he added.

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