Shipping Ministry discuss ports policy

The Shipping Ministry on Friday held a consultation meeting with various stake holders on the policy for "award of waterfront and associated land to port dependent industries in major ports, an official statement said.

According to an official release, the policy, approved by the Union Cabinet earlier this year, is aimed at bringing uniformity and transparency in the procedure for awarding captive facilities at ports.

"Under the new policy, concession will be granted to Port Dependent Industries (PDI) for setting up dedicated facilities in major ports for import and/or export of cargo and their storage before transportation to their destination, for a period not exceeding 30 years. Extension of concession period on conditions including under-utilisation of asset as per the concession agreement may be allowed," said the statement.

"After a maximum of 30 years of operation, the waterfront and associated land in a major port will be allotted for construction of berths, offshore anchorages, transhipment jetties, single point moorings etc. It will be as per the terms and conditions of the Concession Agreement (CA) to be entered into between the Port Authority and the PDI concerned."

The ministry said that the ambit of the policy, aplicable to all major ports, includes creation of new assets as well as utilisation of currently un-utilised existing assets such as vacant berths.

The meeting was attended by various stakeholders from companies such as Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited, Adani Ports, SEPC Power, NTPC and industry bodies ASSOCHAM and CII.

--IANS

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