The Hindu Business Line : ‘Non-major ports set to play a big role’

Kolkata, Jan 30 If the assurance given by various maritime states to the Centre is any indication, the capacity increase in the country’s non-major ports during the Eleventh Plan should be more than that in the major ports.

Giving this information to Business Line on the eve of his retirement, Mr A.K. Mohapatra, Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, said while the capacity of the major ports during the Eleventh Plan would double to 1,050 million tonnes, that of the non-major ports would increase from the present around 230 mt to 1,087 mt during the same period.

In other words, the total port capacity in the country should cross the two billion-tonnes mark as against the earlier estimate of 1.5 billion tonnes.

Mr Mohapatra gave several reasons why the capacity increase in major ports will be less than that in non-major ones. First, the number of major ports was only 12 as against 187 non-major ports.

Second, the major ports were mostly old located within the metropolitan cities where the physical expansion was difficult to achieve.

Finally and, more important, the present decision-making process in regard to identification, approval and implementation of projects in major ports was not in tune with the kind of growth being projected for the economy.

FDI in port sector

The process, he felt, could be accelerated through streamlining of the present institutional arrangement. Some progress, as he pointed out, had already been made in this regard.

The terms of the model concession agreement for PPP (public private partnership) projects had been finalised and the details of RSQ (request for qualification) and RSP (request for proposals) were already in place.

But then, as he felt, further toning up was needed, particularly to encourage private investments, including FDI, in the port sector.

While Mr Mohapatra had no doubts that the non-major ports would be able to achieve the capacity targets they had set for themselves, more so because of the partnership between the respective State Governments and the Union Government, he also felt that the success of the private participation in the port sector would largely depend on the harmony on the industrial relations front.

The owners of private ports must win the confidence of the workers, he said pointing out that the major ports had been free from any industrial unrest for the past few years.

Self-reliance

The Shipping Secretary referred to two other areas requiring proper attention, namely, the need for India becoming self-reliant in dredging and manufacturing engines for ships and building up the pool of technical personnel to meet the growing need of the port and shipping sectors.

“We import engines to fit them in ships we build and this practice must be abandoned”, he said emphasising that total dependence on foreign dredging majors was also not always in the best interest of the country, more so when the requirement of dredging was steadily rising.

Also to ensure quality and standardised training, the integration of pre-sea and post-institutional programmes was urgently needed, Mr Mohapatra added.