Cabinet clears MPTA Bill for major ports

In an attempt to ensure complete autonomy to major ports across the country, the Cabinet has recently approved a Major Port Trust Authorities Bill, which would lead to greater flexibility and professional management across major ports, Shipping Secretary, Rajive Kumar said in a statement. He further said that the 12 major ports - Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT (Navi Mumbai), Marmugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, VO Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) handle 61% of total cargo traffic. The bill also proposed a leaner Board of Port Authority, comprising 11 members from the present 17-19. A more compact Board with professional and independent members will strengthen decision making and strategic planning. Apart from this, a provision has been made for inclusion of representatives of the state government in which the major port is situated. The Bill seeks to give the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) the power to fix rates for bidding proposals for public-private partnership (PPP) projects.