BOT Operators Appeal for Policy Reforms from Newly Appointed Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal sentinelassam.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sentinelassam.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
International and domestic terminal investors in India’s major public ports – operating under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) concession model – are seeking government support to weather the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on cargo volumes.
Dip in cargo intensify rivalry between Stevedores and PPP terminal operators
May 24, 2021
The Chennai Container terminal inside the Chennai Port Trust. (File photo) - The Hindu×
Major port trusts have set different terms and conditions for their operations
Stevedores engaged in loading and unloading bulk cargo from and onto ships at Centre-run major port trusts have approached the government to block demands from private cargo terminal operators handling single commodity to become multi-commodity facilities, after market disruptions from policy changes dragged down traffic such as coal and iron ore.
The issue escalates a tussle for cargo between Stevedores, who load and unload bulk cargo onto and from ships from the non-mechanised berths, at the 12 major ports and private firms that are given cargo handling terminal contracts through the public-private-partnership (PPP) route for 30 years based on a revenue share model.
Improvement in port connectivity
In order to overcome these challenges, many initiatives have been taken over a period of last few years. Some of the recent initiatives taken by the government are as follows:
New legislation viz. Major Ports Authority (MPA) Bill, 2020 have been formulated after extensive deliberations and discussions with the stakeholders. The MPA Bill, 2020 has been passed by the Lok Sabha and would be introduced in Rajya Sabha in the next session. It will usher in a new era for the administration of Major Ports in India in which the Major Ports will have much greater autonomy and contribute significantly to the economic growth and provide world-class port infrastructure by adopting the Landlord Model of development