Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi objecting to some of the provisions of the revised draft of the Indian Ports Bill, 2022, which he contended were “centralising” the sector.
Even though some of the suggestions from maritime States and other stakeholders have been accommodated, the revised draft still largely continued to ignore the international and domestic experience that ports are better managed by local and regional governments, he contended.
In his letter, Mr. Stalin contended that the draft Bill will stifle State-specific initiatives by imposing a centralized regulatory regime on non-major ports. The attempt to convert the Maritime State Development Council (MSDC), presently an advisory body, into a regulatory body with permanent staff would surely encroach upon the powers of the States. “This may end up choking the future development of minor ports,” he said.
The proposed composition of the MSDC – five Secretaries, one Joint Secretary to the Government of India and the administrators of the coastal Union Territories – was “inappropriate” as it excludes the Secretaries in charge of the ports in maritime States/Union Territories, Mr. Stalin observed. “Like the GST Council, the MSDC must continue only as an advisory body, with the relevant Ministers of the Union and the Maritime States/Union Territories as members, and officers should only be special invitees.”
Pointing out certain sections in the revised draft Bill, the Chief Minister said Tamil Nadu strongly objected to centralising provisions in the draft Bill that encroach upon the powers of the maritime States/State Boards.
For example, Chapter V prescribed the constitution, functions and powers of State Maritime Boards while there already exist State legislations governing them. “As per the proposed Bill, if any amendments are required for these Acts, they can be made by the State Legislatures based only on the recommendations of the Centre or the MSDC. This would make the legislative process dysfunctional. Also, the appellate powers against the orders of the State Maritime Boards currently lie with the respective State governments.”
However, as per the draft Bill, this power will go to the Appellate Tribunal, which has been constituted by the Central government for the major ports. This would affect the powers of the States to deal with the disputes on their own, he pointed out. “Considering the above, I request that Chapters II and III of the draft Bill relating to the MSDC be deleted entirely, and that the MSDC remain an apex advisory body as before.”
Mr. Stalin also requested that Chapter V relating to the State Maritime Boards be deleted entirely, contending that the Indian port sector “needs less centralisation and less regulation, not more.” He further sought the Prime Minister’s intervention to ensure the continued growth of non-major ports by increasing the ease of doing business with minimum government and maximum governance.
The growth trajectory of India’s port sector clearly showed that the non-major ports managed by the maritime States have grown faster than the major ports under the Union government, Mr. Stalin said. “This was because the maritime States facilitated the growth of non-major ports through private investments and business-friendly policies.”
Many such States, especially Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, pioneered such facilitatory development of minor ports and have contributed to an increasing share of maritime cargo handling.
