Major ports may tie up with minors for modernisation

NEW DELHI, July 9: In its bid to facilitate development of port infrastructure, the Ministry of Surface Transport (MoST) is planning to permit major ports to forge joint ventures with minor ports to fund their modernisation. If cleared, the move will help meet the fund requirement of Rs 2,000 crore for the development of 163 minor/intermediate ports in the Ninth Five-Year Plan (1997-2002) through private sector participation.

MoST sources said the joint venture proposal was approved "in principle" by the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) two months ago. The panel not only agreed on the need for an enabling provision for the major ports to forge joint ventures with minor ports but also agreed to revive Central loan assistance to maritime states for development of these ports.

In addition, the committee sought immediate steps to encourage oil, fertilisers and other companies to set-up captive jetties/berths at these ports on build-own-transfer (BOT) basis. The meeting was attended by Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian and senior officials of the Ministries of Surface Transport, Coal, Environment and Forests and Finance.

With plans to issue detailed norms for joint ventures in the next 3-4 months, the transport ministry is presently working out modalities for such ventures.