Decks cleared for maritime board

Chief minister to be the chairman while ports minister will be the vice-chairman

The government has issued orders for the creation of the state Maritime Board with the chief minister as the chairman.

Conceived on the lines of the Gujarat Maritime Board, the new body will be autonomous and will take most of the decisions with regard to the development of minor ports in the state, including raising of funds, senior government officials told Business Standard.

The minister, who holds the portfolio of ports will be the vice-chairman while the members of the Maritime Board will include secretaries from Road Transport & Buildings, Industries, Finance and Infrastructure.

It will also have two representatives from the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, and one each from private ports, customs and excise, South Central Railways, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Fapcci).The board will replace the directorate of ports set up by the state government .

"The whole process may take at least three months since a separate legislation is also required to set up the Maritime Board in addition to the present orders," a senior official said.

The government hopes the establishment of Maritime Board will help speed up the development of minor ports in the state as is the case with Gujarat, which has 41 ports including one major and 11 intermediate ports in operation.

While Gujarat established its maritime board in 1981, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu had set up similar boards in 1995 and 1996 respectively. Gujarat now handles more than 100 million tonnes of cargo through its ports.

Andhra Pradesh, which has a 1,000-km long coastline, is aiming at developing all the minor and medium ports of which three, including Kakinada, have already been handed over to private developers.

Besides, the government is also exploring the possibility of establishing a ship building unit at Bheemunipatnam in Visakhapatnam district. The state has two intermediate ports and 10 minor ports spread across eight coastal districts apart from one major port at Visakhapatnam, which is controlled by the Vizag Port Trust, a central body.

Once it comes into being, the board will utilise revenues coming from port operations for the development of ports instead of giving them to the state government.

At present, the state government receives Rs 20 crore from Kakinada deepwater port, Rs 8 crore from Kakinada anchorage port and Rs 5 crore from Ravva port. More than 400 employees, currently employed in the three ports, are opposing the government's move fearing change in their service conditions.

When contacted, N P Ramakrishna Reddy, additional secretary (Ports) T R &B, allayed these fears stating that the existing service conditions will not be altered to the disadvantage of any employee.