Ministry drafts land norms for ports

The Union shipping ministry has drafted a land policy for the Kolkata and Mumbai ports. The guidelines under the policy will be announced after the elections.

"The land issues at the Mumbai and Kolkata ports are more complicated than the other ports. This has necessitated the need to have a separate policy for the ports," a ministry official said.

For instance, the Mumbai and Kolkata ports have huge real estates that are disputed and cannot be leased out. Also, Mumbai has different rent laws and has several issues which are pending in the Supreme Court, he said.

A six-member committee was formed earlier this year to draft the guidelines, which has submitted a report to the ministry. The guidelines would not be applicable to the build operate and transfer projects.

On the unauthorised possession of land at the Kolkata port, the policy has suggested alternative legal routes to evict occupants, which is a lengthy and costly process.

The panel has mooted that in case the authorised lessee is not traceable, the board of the trust can, on its own discretion, allot land to the sitting occupant on the lease of 99 years, if the occupant is willing to pay the value of the land according to the scheduled rates decided by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports or any other competent authority or the highest available tender rate in the vicinity, whichever is higher.

The panel has also suggested that to build up a sizeable pension fund, the conversion of the existing long-term leases of different duration into leases of 99 years should be carried out.

For this purpose those tenants enjoying long-term leases on low rents should be given a concession on the premiums paid upfront for the conversion of the lease.

The Kolkata port board should be able to enter into joint ventures for the development of real estate and subsequent leasing.

In case of Haldia and Kolkata, for the land outside the custom bound area different procedure would be followed for leasing out would depend on whether the land is being used for port-related purpose or not.

In case of other ports, there is no such distinction on the basis of land use.

If the land is not required for port-related purposes, it can be leased for 30-99 years with the ministry's permission required in case of the latter for both Haldia and Kolkata. If the land is being leased for port-related purposes, the lease can be for a maximum of 30 years.

If an existing lessee wants to expand into the vacant land available in the neighbourhood, he will have the right of first refusal, where he will have to match the highest bid obtained through the tender route.

But this right would cease to take effect if the difference between the highest and the lessee's bid is more than 10 per cent.

For Mumbai, the panel has made recommendations depending on whether the lettings fall under the Maharashtra Rent Control Act or not.

The rent in both the cases would be the compromise rate that is subject to the final decision of the Supreme Court.

It has also suggested that in Mumbai no renewals of lease should be permitted if the land is required for the port's own use and it should be sold to the lessee, in case it is not required for port-related purpose.