Govt likely to award only 5 port projects this fiscal

Major Indian ports are likely to miss the target of awarding 23 port projects on a public private partnership mode, with the government unlikely to award more than five port projects by the end of this fiscal.

A shipping ministry official said that 'We would not be able to award more than 4 to 5 port projects and we are aware that we would be missing the target by a long chalk.”

This adds to the sector's growing worries, which is reeling under capacity constraints, long pending clearances and lack of clarity in policies.

The only port project for constructing the fourth container terminal at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai was awarded to a consortium of Port of Singapore Authority and India's ABG Ports, with an estimated cost of INR 6,700 crore. But this project also got stuck as the consortium partners have refused to pay the INR 50 crore stamp duty demanded by the state government.

Besides this, two other projects in Vizag port and one at Kandla port will be awarded by February. Twelve port projects were stuck due to security clearances since March last year, out of which eight were cleared recently.

The shipping secretary will hold a meeting with chairmen of all major port trusts on February 2 to discuss why there has been no progress in awarding of projects.

Mr Samir Kanabar partner at Ernst and Young said that 'Issues of land acquisition, environmental clearances and security clearances are becoming larger. Some cases are stuck in litigation and these are roadblocks that will inevitably take time.”