LS Passed Indian Ports Bill, 2025

Syllabus: GS3/Infrastructure

Context

• The Lok Sabha has passed the Indian Ports Bill, 2025. It seeks to repeal and replace the Indian Ports Act, 1908.

Key Features

• State Maritime Boards: The Bill provides statutory recognition to all State Maritime Boards set up by coastal states.
  • State Maritime Boards will be responsible for the administration and regulation of non-major ports within their respective states.  
• Maritime State Development Council: It provides statutory recognition to the Maritime State Development Council.
  • The council will be chaired by the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
  • It will issue guidelines in consultation with central and state governments and will also advise the central government on the formulation of a national perspective plan.
• Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC): The Bill requires state governments to constitute a DRC to adjudicate upon disputes between non-major ports, concessionaires, users, and service providers within the state.
  • Appeals against orders of the DRC will lie before the High Court.  
  • Civil courts are barred from matters entrusted to the DRC. 
• Tariffs: The tariff for a major port will be fixed by the: Board of Major Port Authority, or Board of Directors of a port registered as a company.
  • For non-major ports, the State Maritime Board or a concessionaire authorised by it will fix the tariff.
• Port officers: The Act designates the conservator, appointed by the state government, as the chief port officer.
  • The Bill makes all other port officers (e.g., harbour master, health officer) subordinate to the conservator, who retains powers over vessel movements, obstruction removal, and fee recovery. 
• Safety and conservation: The Act penalises actions which endanger safety the Bill retains these provisions.
  • The Bill mandates compliance with MARPOL (International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) and Ballast Water Management Convention.  
  • It also adds new obligations with regard to prevention and containment of pollution, emergency preparedness, and disaster management.  
• Penalties: The offences under the Act are punishable with imprisonment, fine, or both, the Bill retains these offences.
  • It decriminalises certain offences and makes them punishable with a monetary penalty instead.  It also introduces compounding for all first-time contraventions.

Concerns

• Lack of Appeal mechanism: The Bill does not provide a mechanism for appeal against the levy of penalty by the conservator.
• Penalty Against Supervising Authority: The Bill lets the conservator penalise the Port Authority or concessionaires for not publishing tariffs online.
  • Since the conservator works under the Port Authority, this may require penalising their own supervising body, raising concerns about the appropriateness of the arrangement.
• Lack of Safeguards Against the Powers to Inspect: Port officers such as the conservator and the health officer are granted powers of entry and inspection.  However, the Bill lacks safeguards against such powers.
• Lack of clarity on ‘mega ports’: The Bill allows the central government to designate a port as a ‘mega port’, while retaining its major or non-major status. With no further provisions, the purpose of this additional classification remains unclear.

Source: AIR