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The Opposition seems to be whiffing a scam in the Union Shipping Ministry’s decision to appoint an office-bearer of the Indian Private Ports and Terminals Association (IPPTA) on the Board of Trustees of Paradip Port Trust (PPT).
After Odisha’s ruling party Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the Left parties have come out in protest against the decision, even as the IPPTA maintained that such an appointment would help PPT in meeting challenges in a competitive environment.
CPI (M) leader and Rajya Sabha member Tapan Sen said that the decision itself is a scam. “Such a decision should not have been taken. It is a clear case of conflict of interest. It amounts to surrendering a profit-making port to private operators,” Sen, who is also a member of the Parliament’s Committee on Public Undertakings (CoPU), told BusinessLine . He said he would raise the issue in Parliament as well as in CoPU.
On Wednesday, Sen also wrote to the Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, opposing the appointment of IPTTA treasurer, Kevin J D’Souza, as a trustee of PPT. D’ Souza is also a Director of DP World, a company that owns many ports across the world.
Urging Gadkari to reconsider and reverse the decision, Sen said DP World is a business rival to all the major ports under the Shipping MinistryMeanwhile, in a response to BusinessLine’s report on the issue published on July 6, the IPPTA said the Shipping Ministry had notified D’Souza’s name for PPT after following due process.
“D’Souza is a finance professional with over 20 years of experience in the shipping industry. His experience and qualifications in the field of finance and port developmentwill benefit PPT in meeting its challenges in a competitve environment,” IPPTA president Ragam Kishore said in a statement.
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