In a move to boost capacity at major ports in the country, a government panel today approved three projects worth over Rs 7,700 crore, to be developed through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.

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The projects, cleared by the Public-Private Partnership Approval Committee (PPPAC), include development of the fourth container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), Navi Mumbai, the largest container terminal to be considered for construction in the country.

The project, to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 6,700 crore, is currently stalled due to litigation issues.

A senior official at the shipping ministry said: “The ministry is revising some policy guidelines so that monopoly is prevented while awarding PPP projects. We are confident that all legal issues will be sorted out and all three projects approved by PPPAC today will be awarded by March 2010.”

The revision of policy guidelines pertains to a successful concessionaire for a PPP project being debarred from bidding from the consequent project at a port. The revised directive is intended to prevent domination of a single player in developing projects at a particular port.

The other projects that have been approved are for developing a standalone container handling facility with quay length of 330 m north of NSICT terminal at JNPT (Rs 600 crore) and mechanisation of coal handling facilities and upgrade of general cargo berth in the outer harbour of the Visakhapatnam port.

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