In a major reform for the Port sector, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal has announced the Tariff Guidelines, 2021 for the public private partnership (PPP) projects in Major Ports. Sonowal said that they will usher in a new era of market economy and make major ports more competitive.
In the new Act, the provision of the erstwhile Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP) stands abolished. The need for Tariff Guidelines, 2021 for the PPP projects in major ports arose consequent upon the new Major Port Authority Act, 2021 coming in vogue w.e.f. November 3, 2021. Currently, major port's PPP concessionaires handle around 50 per cent of the total traffic handled by all the major ports in India.
The guidelines allow the concessionaires at major ports to set tariffs as per market dynamics. The biggest benefit of transition to market linked tariff is that a level playing field will be provided to the PPP concessionaires at major ports to compete with private ports. PPP concessionaires at major ports were constrained to operate under the stipulations of these guidelines (by TAMP) whereas private operators/PPP concessionaires at non-major ports were free to charge tariff as per market conditions. These new guidelines will be applicable for future PPP projects, including the projects which are currently under the bidding stage.
