New Act to govern major ports notified in gazette

The Centre has notified the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021 in the gazette after it was signed into law by the President Ram Nath Kovind.

The law was passed by Parliament on February 10.

The Act will convert 11 of the 12 ports run by the Central government into “authorities” from the current “trustee” set-up, in the biggest structural reform of state-owned ports ever attempted by any government.

Chennai Port Trust, Cochin Port Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (near Mumbai), Deendayal Port Trust (Kandla), Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust (Kolkata), Mumbai Port Trust, New Mangalore Port Trust, Mormugao Port Trust, Paradip Port Trust, V.O.Chidambaranar Port Trust (Thoothukudi) and Visakhapatnam Port Trust will be brought under the new Act.

Currently, these 11 ports function as trusts under a law framed more than five decades ago called the Major Port Trusts Act 1963.