Ports sector finally sails out of muddy waters

On the back of the recent reform push in the sector, including doing away with controversial tariff setting authority, two of the biggest international port operators have shown interest in investing more in India.
"PSA has always upheld the belief that there is a great market potential in this country. We will continue to develop our existing port projects here and will be on the lookout for more opportunities to invest," a top official from the Singaporean port operator said.
Notably, late last month, PSA successfully bid to build and operate the Rs 7,900 crore fourth terminal at the country's largest container port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust on the eastern coast of the megapolis.

"We are always looking for right opportunities because we want to see where the customer wants to go," DP World's chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem told journalists last week.
Sulayem acknowledged that while working here, the operators have to face hardships in getting clearances, which has been blamed in the past for delaying projects and escalating costs.
He, however, underlined that it is not only his company which has to face such troubles. "We understand things take time and it is not just us (who is getting affected), but everybody else as well," he said.

Sulayem said DP World, which operates the country's first international trans-shipment terminal at Vallarpadam off Kochi, would like to see the growth assessments made by international bodies like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund while taking a long-term view on India and the outlook of both these bodies are optimistic.

"Definitely what we hear from the World Bank and the Fund (IMF) is positive. Demand is very good here and that is why we are investing," he said.
The public pronouncements by these two ports, which already operate assets in the country, should come as a welcome development given the ambitious targets for capacity addition set by the government under the Maritime Agenda till 2020.
In a first of sorts, the government was able to meet its FY14 target of awarding 30 projects, which entail an investment of over Rs 21,000 crore.
Experts attribute it to a variety of reform moves undertaken by the government, the most important of it being the decision to disband the Tariff Authority for Major Ports or Tamp, which used to cap usage charges at the major ports.

In mid-2013, the Union shipping ministry had announced new projects will not be coming under the Tamp, and also assured to look into the demand of how older projects can avail the same benefits.
Other moves of the government include - setting strict timelines for getting security and green clearances for projects and a new land policy.