Kochi to host 8th Maritime Devlp Council meet

Kochi, Dec 19: The eighth meeting of Maritime States Development Council (MSDC), the coordinating advisory body for the integrated development of major and non-major ports in the country, will be held here under the chairmanship of union shipping minister T R Balu on December 21-22.

The meeting is expected to be attended by about 100 delegates from different parts of the country including the Secretary and senior officers of the union ministry of shipping and chairmen of all major ports.

Senior officers of the Inland Waterways Authority of India, the Tariff Authority for Major Ports, the National Shipping Board, the Indian Ports Association and other maritime related government organizations will also attend the meet.

Cochin Port Trust is hosting the meeting on behalf of the union Ministry of Shipping, a CPT release here said.

The MSDC was set up in in 1997 by the Centre to assess in consultation with the state governments the future development of existing and new minor ports.

Assessing the adequacy of the existing legal framework, formulation of a master plan/perspective plan for the development of minor ports, monitoring the development of minor, captive and private ports with a view to ensuring their integrated development with major ports and assessing the infrastructure requirements are some of the other major roles of the MSDC.

The last meeting (VIIth) of the MSDC was held in Bhubaneswar in 2005.

UNI