Mumbai : Union Minister for Shipping Nitin Gadkari on Friday assured the employees opposing ports corporatisation that attempts are being made to find alternatives to upgrade ports and their services.
“Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had told us (in the Budget) about the Companies Act, but we are looking at other alternatives beyond the Companies Act to modernise and develop the ports,” Gadkari told reporters after inaugurating an oil spill response facility for the Mumbai Harbour here.
He said his ministry is in discussions and seeking guidance from the Finance Ministry on the alternatives, but did not elaborate on what those alternatives might be.
In the Budget, Jaitley had announced the government intention to corporatise ports, saying, “ports need to attract investments as well as leverage the huge land resource lying unused with them and to enable us to do so, ports in the public sector will be encouraged to corporatise and become companies under the Company’s Act.”
Managements of major ports, including the largest container port JNPT, have welcomed the move.
However, employee unions opposed to the move and threatened to go on an indefinite strike, which was cancelled following interventions by labour commissioners and a specially constituted panel.
“All the five employee unions are still opposed to corporatisation, but we have been assured by the Indian Ports Association that our interests will be protected,” the All-India Port & Dock Workers Federation had said in a statement after withdrawing the strike call in March.
Gadkari, in an attempt to allay the fears, asserted that equity will not change hands under the corporatisation move.
“Basic concept is development and modernisation. We don’t want to privatise, nor do we want to give any equity to the private people. We want to modernise, protect the interest of labour, protect the interest of ports and at the same time improve the services of the ports to improve business and do good profits,” Gadkari said.
Speaking to reporters, Gadkari said the 12 major ports will be investing Rs 1,000 crore to set up clean power facilities and reduce their reliance on the grid power.
“The government has sanctioned a 150—mw plan for green power for ports,” he said, adding generating the required finance will not be difficult.
Citing the example of the JNPT, he said it pays up to Rs 13 per unit of grid power and has a requirement of 25 mw.
“Under the plan, a hybrid project involving setting up solar and wind capacities on rooftops as well as windmills on the sea will be done”, he said.
