The Indian government will table a new bill to facilitate a model agreement by way of public-private partnership in the port sector, according to local reports.
Speaking at the CEO’s Forum at the Maritime India Summit in Mumbai, Secretary of Shipping, Rajive Kumar, said: "In the next two months, we will have a new model agreement, hopefully by 30 June.”
“The Ministry of Shipping is coming up with a separate bill that can handle long term concessional arrangement between port and terminal operators," he added.
Indian news agency, dna, reports that Mr Kumar said there are investment opportunities in the development of dredging and barges as the coastal cargo movement is set to rise by six times in the coming decade.
To make the coastal cargo and inland cargo movement economically feasible, Mr Kumar pointed out that duty on bunker fuel has been removed for containers, adding that the objective is to bring down bunker fuel cost further for all cargoes.
States have been requested to bring down VAT on bunker fuel and three states have responded, he said. The government is also considering revamping the role of port regulator TAMP (Tariff Authority for Major Ports). Responding to a query from the forum, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said, "We want to close TAMP chapter immediately and the process is on to replace it with a new system."
