New rate guidelines for major ports soon, says shipping minister

According to government officials, private players have refrained from bidding for projects in expectation of new tariff guidelines

Even as port projects have taken a hit due to rate regulations, the shipping ministry is planning new guidelines for major port operators by next month. Shipping Minister G K Vasan told reporters on Wednesday the guidelines would “provide a level-playing field to companies and will be market-linked”.

According to government officials, private players have refrained from bidding for projects in expectation of the new guidelines. Rates at the 12 major ports, which come under the Centre, are controlled by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, unlike the non-major ports or private ports that operate freely.

The ministry has set a target to award 30 projects during 2013-14, to add 287 million tonnes a year and generate an investment of Rs 25,000 crore. The big-ticket project is the Rs 8,000-crore fourth container terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Navi Mumbai, up for bids again.

Besides, the government also plans to award two new ports — Sagar Island in West Bengal and Dugarajpatnam in Andhra Pradesh — this year.

For 2012-13, government added 132-million tonnes by awarding 32 projects. The investment was Rs 6,700 crore.

“Almost all the top port infrastructure companies in the world like D.P. World, Port Authority of Singapore, P&O Ports, APM Terminal, Maersk, and Noble Group have invested in India,” said Vasan. He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference on the signing of a concession pact between JNPT and Dubai Port World for the 330-metre container terminal.     

Under the pact, the terminal will be developed at Rs 600 crore, with an estimated capacity addition of 800,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (a unit to describe a ship's cargo-carrying capacity) a year.

The project would be executed on design-built-finance-operate-transfer basis, with a concession period of approximately 17 years and is slated to be completed by December 2015.

The new terminal is adjacent to the Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT), which DP World currently operates.