Gadkari asks major ports to come up with land database by Oct

The directions were issued by Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari, who has asked all major ports to come up with a shelf of projects to augment their capacity to 1600 million tonnes (MT) from the present 800 MT, an official said‘All major ports were directed by the minister to prepare a computerised inventory of land assets alongwith GPS based digital maps in three months. Ports were asked protect their lands by fencing and have close monitoring to prevent encroachments,’ the official said.

The directions assume much significance as leveraging of land resources for commercial advantage would generate additional revenue for ports.

The major ports a have between them 2.64 lakh acres, which is a major resource and can be understood from the fact that only Mumbai Port Trust has about 753 hectares with it, valued at about Rs 46,000 crore.

‘A two-member committee comprising director general of shipping Gautam Chatterjee and adviser RC Sinha will look into the changes suggested by chairmen of major port trusts in the existing land policy guidelines. Ministry of shipping will take measures to revise the Land Policy Guidelines based on the Committee’s Report, which is expected in a month’s time,’ the official said.

Under the new policy guidelines, land can be allotted only through licensing in custom bond areas by inviting competitive bidding, while land outside custom bond areas can be leased through tender-cum-auction.