In a significant policy decision, the Gujarat government’s new port policy, announced last week, allows the 32 existing captive jetties to handle third-party cargo without any restrictions. For the new proposed jetties, a minimum of 3 km distance needs to be maintained from the existing jetties. Moreover, the new jetties should be out of the limits of private ports. The captive jetty holders can pay double the existing wharfage charges and transport goods of various companies. As the restrictions on jetties have been removed, the port sector in the state would get an additional boost, said a report.
The policy allows ports of any size more than five million metric tonnes to be set up as a commercial port, as per the report.
The new policy has also eased the import of crude oil, coal, natural gas and LPG through ports in order to attract fresh investment of about Rs 4,000 crore along the state’s 1,600 km coastline in the ports and allied sectors, one of the aims being significant employment generation. Another intention is to enhance Gujarat’s share from 41 per cent to 46 per cent in the total cargo handling of the country.
The government is expecting that the incentives given in the new port policy will generate economic activities valued at Rs 70,000, crore. Moreover, extra revenue of Rs 400 crore can be generated in the port sector and 79.5 MMTPA of capacity for commercial port activities can be unlocked, said the report.
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