Ports told to lure pvt operators for BOT

the planning commission's working group for the port sector, headed by shipping secretary mp pinto, has asked the ports to restrict their investment in infrastructure, and attract private operators to invest in bot projects. the working group has said since the global emphasis is on privatisation of service delivery in ports, major ports have to conform to the 'landlord port model' and restrict their investments. apart from enhanced private sector participation, the proposals also include corporatisation of major ports, market-friendly regulations and integration of other ports with nationalised ports. n k singh, member, planning commission, (energy & infrastructure), said the corporatisation of port trusts and the development of two mother ports — one each for the east coast and west coast — are most imperative. he said corporatisation of the port trusts was the key to achieve a dramatic improvement in the turnaround time of vessels. according to arun bongirwar, chairman of j n port and indian ports' association (ipa), the existing port capacity stands at 291 million tonne as against the traffic of 281 million tonne during 2000-01. in most countries, there is excess port capacity available so that berths could wait for vessels, thereby avoiding any delay in vessel berthing. by the end of this current fiscal, we hope to build a capacity of 344 million tonne while we expect a traffic of 289 million tonne, said mr bongirwar. in keeping with the instructions by the union government, idfc had devised a new model bid document based on revenue sharing, as against a minimum guarantee throughout and a related annual royalty. major ports are currently inviting global tenders for their bot projects as per the new model document. for instance, mumbai port, which failed to draw any response to bids to privatise its cargo berths under the earlier bid specifications based on minimum guaranteed throughput, is now going in for fresh bidding with the idfc-devised bidding model. while preparing the ports for corporatisation, the planning commission's working group has called for a comprehensive business plan that takes into account the specific competitive position of each port. upon corporatisation, the port would have to adopt an accounting system conforming to the requirement of the companies act, 1956, said the working group. while the latest major port — ennore port — is already corporatised, jawaharlal nehru port in mumbai is all set to get corporatised, and would soon become jawaharlal nehru port company. the shipping ministry wants to corporatise most of the major ports during the coming five-year plan period starting in 2002.

Ports told to lure pvt operators for BOT

THE PLANNING Commission’s working group for the port sector, headed by shipping secretary MP Pinto, has asked the ports to restrict their investment in infrastructure, and attract private operators to invest in BOT projects.

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