PMO to hasten languishing port projects

Review of PPP projects next week road map for expediting implementation on the anvil

In its drive to hasten projects in the infrastructure sector, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is set to chart a road map to ensure the timely implementation of existing projects and enhance investments in the languishing port sector.

Principal secretary to the prime minister, Pulok Chatterji, is slated to meet senior officials of the ministries of shipping and finance and with those from related departments, on Wednesday to chalk a strategy.

The meeting is aimed at reviewing public-private partnership (PPP) port projects, as well as dredging projects at various ports, which are to be considered by the ministry of shipping. The ministry had set a target of awarding 23 projects through the PPP mode by March.

SETTING SAIL

* Meeting to review PPP port, dredging projects

* By March, ministry aimed to award 23 PPP projects

* Ministry aims to raise port capacity to 3 bn tonnes

* Govt may have to revisit approach to PPP projects

* PMO looks at time-bound fixing of core sector woes

One of the most ambitious port projects, the Rs 6,700-crore fourth container terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Navi Mumbai), awarded to a consortium led by the Port of Singapore Authority (PSA), is still in limbo, with the company refusing to pay a stamp duty of Rs 50 crore.

Among the PPP projects the government plans to award this year are six riverine jetties with a capacity of 4.5 million tonnes, at a cost of Rs 300 crore.

The construction at a new coal terminal at the Paradip Port Trust is languishing, as various clearances are yet to be secured. The projects awaiting security clearances include the conversion of berth eight into a container terminal at Tuticorin and an oil jetty at Haldia in the Kolkata Port Trust.

Industry experts say the PPP route has not made much headway in the sector. Among other issues, the government may have to revisit its approach towards the model, they add.

The shipping ministry plans to increase the country’s port capacity to three billion tonnes. This would involve an investment of Rs 3 lakh crore by 2020, according to the ministry’s maritime agenda for 2020.

The government is also finalising two more ports, of which one would come in Andhra Pradesh.

Hemant Bhattbhatt, senior director, Deloitte, says, “The process of awarding projects is long-drawn and overstretched. In a high revenue-share scenario, the money has to come from the trade. It would reflect as part of the cost of logistics of the country’s entire supply chain. It can also set a very bad trend.”

After addressing the concern of power sector companies on coal supply, the PMO is now looking at fixing the problems of other core sectors in a time-bound manner. “Highways and ports have been identified as a prime focus area,” said an official associated with the process.