Port reforms: The next big step

Cabinet clearance of the Major Port Authority Bill, 2020, should breathe new life into government-owned major ports

Given its critical importance to the overall economy, it has al­ways been surprising how little attention has been paid by successive governments to policy re­fo­rms for Indian state-owned ports. Even as sector after sector, from roads to telecom to power and civil aviation, have seen reforms (or at least serious attem­pts at reform), the ports sector has seen relatively little action.
 
Even today the so-called “major po­rts” (12 of them), which account for around 55 per cent of maritime cargo traffic in the country, have to adhere to a tariff and policy regime that has its roots in the