Major ports to have private participation

New Delhi, Nov 29 (UNI) The Government has put in place a scheme for private sector participation in the major ports and approved 21 private sector projects in the major ports,the Lok Sabha was told today.

In a written answer,Minister for Shipping and Road Transport T R Baalu said the comprehensive guidelines issued by the Government for private sector participation in major ports lay down the areas identified for such participation, the regulatory framework, modalilties of participation, the bidding and evaluation process and the selection criteria.

The Government has also prescribed model documents for bidding, licence agreement for such participation to guide the major ports in carving out project specific documents, he said Under the National Maritime Development Programme, a number of projects in all the 12 major ports have been identified for private sector participation, the Minister said.

However, the process of identification and award of specific projects for upgradation and modernisation is an ongoing one,keeping in view the demands of maritime trade,he added.

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