Govt moves Bill to remove licence need for Indian coastal shippers

Opposition claims bill promotes centralisation of power

Union minister of ports shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday introduced the Coastal Shipping Bill 2024 in Lok Sabha, which aims to remove general trading licence requirements for Indian vessels on coastal waters.

 

The Bill will also enable prohibition of trade in the coastal water without licence by vessels other than Indian ones. It will permit inland vessels to engage in coastal trading subject to certain conditions, said the minister in his statement of object and reasons.

 

The proposed legislation, if passed, will empower the director-general of shipping, a government-appointed senior bureaucrat, to issue a licence after taking into consideration certain factors. These include citizenship of the crew, whether more jobs are created for Indian seafarers and promoting shipbuilding in India.

 

Conditions on staffing of crew for foreign vessels will allow the government to enforce a minimum number of Indian seafarers on all such coastal vessels.

 

India contributes significantly to the global seafarer numbers, with a majority of them employed in foreign-flagged ships due to India’s low ship-owning and shipbuilding output.

 

The ability of the shipping regulator to provide licences may lead to concentration of power in the hands of one individual, said Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar). 

 

Similarly, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said that the power to issue licences to foreign operators should be in the hands of an independent body, and not the director general of shipping. This is because the D-G is appointed by the government and operates under the shipping ministry.

 

The Bill also envisages the preparation of a National Coastal and Inland Shipping Strategic Plan for development, growth and promotion of coastal shipping.

 

DMK MP D.M. Kathir Anan, while calling the Bill a “cruel joke to Tamil Nadu,” said the National Coastal and Inland Shipping Strategic Plan, which will be reviewed every two years, will allow the Centre to take away states’ autonomy of their coasts.

 

“The integration of inland waterways and coastline is a cruel joke to Tamil Nadu. Restore our waterways or admit this Bill is a sham. This Bill challenges state’s autonomy and centralises coastline strategy taking no state voices into consideration. Why must we beg for what is handed out to others?” he added.