Do you think the Major Port Authority Bill, 2020, breathe new life into government-owned major ports? Explain (200 Words)
Refer - Business Standard
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
· According to a report by CARE, the share of non-major ports in total traffic rose to 43 per cent in 2016 from just 10 per cent in 1981. These ports — such as Mundra, Kakinada and Pipavav — are not just operationally more efficient, but crucially, have developed much better linkages to the hinterland to enable smooth traffic flows.
· Having invested in port infrastructure, the Union Cabinet has taken the next logical and critical step to enable ports to leverage that new infrastructure — operating policy reform.
· The Major Ports Authority Bill, 2020, — to comprehensively overhaul the governance structure of major ports.
· The 2016 Bill granted major ports greater autonomy, including crucially, the ability to set tariffs on their own. Apart from tariff autonomy, the 2016 Bill also enabled the board of an individual port to raise funds (up to 50 per cent of capital reserves) from banks and financial institutions without taking the permission of the central government.
· It also provided for the setting up of a centralised adjudication board to resolve disputes in PPP projects between the port and private sector concessionaires.
· Together, these measures, assumed incorporated in the latest Bill, could lead to major ports becoming much more attractive to the private sector, both in terms of investment and as service providers. Private operators who provide cargo handling services in major ports as of today, for instance, have to clear their tariffs with TAMP — clearly a sub-optimal outcome.
· These reforms are critical if the investments made in the last few years are to pay off. The positive effects of a more liberalised regime for ports are no clearer than in Gujarat which was a pioneer in a port-led model of trade and development, as the CARE report notes.
· From the Sagarmala project to tweaking taxes to incentivise waterborne cargo transport, to setting up and developing port-based SEZs and mega ports, a number of measures have been taken in recent years to give a boost to the shipping sector.
Shivangi 5 years
Please review.
IAS Parliament 5 years
Good attempt. Keep Writing.
