Ports Wing

Introduction

The Ports Wing is primarily responsible for the development of 12 Major Ports with the objective to provide necessary and adequate cargo handling capacity to meet India’s EXIM trade. The Ports in the country handle around 90% of EXIM Cargo by volume and 70% by value. In order to meet the ever increasing trade requirements, expansion of Port Capacity is accorded the highest priority. While increasing the capacity of the major ports, the Port Wing strives to improve the operational efficiencies through mechanization, digitization and process simplification. As a result over the years the installed capacity & cargo handled by the Major Ports have increased considerably. Besides the efficiency parameters like average turn around time, average output per ship berth day have also improved considerable.

Major Ports & Non-Major Ports

There are 12 major ports and 200 non-major ports (minor ports) in the country. While the Major Ports are under the administrative control of Ministry of Shipping, the non-major ports are under the jurisdiction of respective State Maritime Boards/ State Government. All the 12 Major ports are functional. Out of the 200 non-major ports, around 65 ports are handling cargo and the others are “Port Limits” where no cargo is handled and these are used by fishing vessels and by small ferries to carry passengers across the creeks etc

Major Port Trusts:

Chennai Port Trust

Cochin Port Trust

Deendayal Port Trust

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust

New Mangalore Port Trust

Visakhapatnam Port Trust

V.O.Chidambarnar Port trust

Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 and IPA Act, 1908

All the 12 Major Ports are governed under the Major Port Trusts act, 1963. All the Non-Major Ports (minor ports) are governed under the IPA Act, 1908 which consists of 69 sections and two schedules and regulates the berths, stations, anchoring, fastening, mooring and unmooring of vessels. Besides, it fixes the rates to be paid in a port other than Major Port for use of such mooring belonging to the Government. It also regulates catamarans plying or hire and deals with regulating the use of fires and light within any such port

Maritime State Development Council (MSDC)

The MSDC was constituted in May, 1997 under the Chairmanship of the then Hon’ble Minister (SFT) with Minister in-charge of ports of all Maritime States/UTs, Secretary (SFT) and DA (Ports) as its Members and Joint Secretary (Ports) as Member-Secretary. Administrator, Union Territory of Daman & Diu was added as a Member in November, 1997. In march 2003 Director of Naval Operations, Naval Headquarters, New Delhi and Director (Operations), Coast Guard has been inducted as members in the MSDC. As per mandate of the Instruction of Maritime State Development council under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister of Ports,Shipping and Waterways, the Council would meet at least once in six month

The MSDC meetings held earlier are as under in chronological order:-

MSDC Meeting	Place	Date
1^st MSDC	Chennai	1-2^nd August, 1997.
2^nd MSDC	New Delhi	23^rd June, 1999
3^rd MSDC	Vishakhapatnam	1-2^nd July, 2000
4^th MSDC	Goa	19-20^th October, 2001
5^th MSDC	Goa	3-4^th September, 2003
6th MSDC	Pondicherry	29-30^th January, 2004
7^th MSDC	Bhubaneswar	10^th November, 2004
8^th MSDC	Cochin	22^nd December, 2006
9th MSDC	Goa	6-7^th January, 2008
10^th MSDC	Chennai	31^st December, 2008
11^th MSDC	New Delhi	12^th November, 2009
12^th MSDC	Chennai	31^st August, 2010
13^th MSDC	Hyderabad	13-14^th June, 2011
14^th MSDC	Mumbai	7-8^th January, 2013
15^th MSDC	Bangalore	16^th November, 2013
16^th MSDC	Goa	24^th August 2015
17^th MSDC	New Delhi	15^th October, 2019

Major Port Authority Bill, 2020

There are 11 Major Port Trusts in the Country which are governed by the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963. A number of measures are being taken by the Government to augment capacity and improve the operational efficiency of Major Ports. However, under the restrictive ambit of the MPT Act, the Major Ports are finding it difficult to operate in a highly competitive environment and respond to market challenges. The Board of Trustees is very large and comprises of representatives of disparate interests including port users, labour, trade associations which makes decision making cumbersome, and, at times decisions are taken which are not fully based on commercial and economic interest. Even after delegating more powers and making some amendments to MPT Act, from time to time, the basic objective of offering efficient services to port users has not been achieved fully.

With a view to provide more autonomy and flexibility to Major Ports and to professionalize their governance, it was proposed in the year 2016 to amend the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 comprehensively. Since, the number of amendments was large, it was proposed to replace the existing MPT Act, 1963 with a new Act viz. ‘The Major Port Authorities Act, 2016’. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 16.12.2016 but it could not be passed due to non-inclusion in the list of Business of Lok Sabha. On dissolution of 16^th Lok Sabha, the Bill was lapsed.

The Major Port Authority Bill, 2020 has been introduced in the Lok Sabha on 12.03.2020. Listed in the Business of the House on 20.03.2020 and 23.03.2020 for discussion and consideration

Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP)

Establishment of TAMP

The Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) was created in 1997. The regulatory jurisdiction of the Authority extends to all major port trusts and private terminals operating therein.

Role, Functions and Organizational Structure

The Authority is statutorily mandated to frame the Scale of Rates and Statement of Conditions for the services rendered by the Major Port Trusts and Private Terminals thereat as well as charges for use of port properties.

The Authority consists of a Chairman and two Members. The Chairman is of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India, one Member from amongst economists and one Member with experience in finance. TAMP is functioning with Member (Finance) and Member (Economics) at present.

The Headquarter of Tariff Authority for Major Ports is located at Mumbai.

The sanctioned strength of officers and staff of the Authority is 36. As against that, the existing staff strength as on 01/04/2019 is 30 comprising of 08 Group A posts, 08 Group B posts, 09 Group C posts and 05 Group D post

Meetings of the Authority

The procedure to be followed in processing of tariff cases and conducting the meetings of this Authority is regulated by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (Transaction of Business) Regulations, 1998.

The Authority follows the following guidelines issued by the Government of India for regulating tariff of Major Port Trusts and Private Terminals operating thereat.

Sr. No. Guidelines Date of Notification

(i).

Upfront Tariff Guidelines, 2008

26/02/2008

(ii).

Reference Tariff Guidelines, 2013

30/09/2013

(iii).

Guidelines for Determination of Upfront Tariff for Stevedoring and Shore Handling Operations, 2016.

15/09/2016

(iv).

Berthing Policy for Dry Bulk Cargo for Major Ports, 2016.

MOS Letter dated 16 June 2016

(v).

(a). Policy for Determination of Tariff for Major Port Trusts, 2018

16/01/2019

(b).Working Guidelines to operationalize the Policy for Determination of Tariff for Major Port Trusts, 2018

(vi).

(a). Tariff Guidelines 2019

07/03/2019

(b). Working Guidelines to operationalize the Tariff Guidelines 2019

07/03/2019

5. The Authority since inception has disposed of 969 cases till 30 June 2019. The Orders passed by the Authority since 01/01/2001 are hosted in the TAMP website (http://tariffauthority.gov.in).

List showing mapping of Guidelines & attached documents

Sr. No.	Guidelines
(i).	Upfront Tariff Guidelines, 2008
(ii).	Reference Tariff Guidelines, 2013
(iii).	Guidelines for Determination of Upfront Tariff for Stevedoring and Shore Handling Operations, 2016.
(iv).	Berthing Policy for Dry Bulk Cargo for Major Ports, 2016.
(v).	(a). Policy for Determination of Tariff for Major Port Trusts, 2018
(b). Working Guidelines to operationalize the Policy for Determination of Tariff for Major Port Trusts, 2018
(vi).	(a). Tariff Guidelines 2019
(b). Working Guidelines to operationalize the Tariff Guidelines 2019

Guidelines