24-Jul-2022: Major Ports Exempted Ro-Pax/Passenger Ferries from paying Port and Vessel related Charges for next 6 Months

Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) is promoting the Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax/Ferry waterway transportation which has lower emissions compared to other modes of transport for the same amount of cargo. Also, there is a significant time and cost saving compared to the traditional transportation modes. Concurrently traffic congestion on road/railways, noise pollution and the accidents on the roads may also get reduced. Such water-based transportation service is an effective measure to lower the logistics costs, reducing travel time and promotion of coastal shipping on several feasible routes.

In order to provide some quick respite to this sector from the impact of Global Increase in Price of Fuel, MoPSW has directed all Major Ports to exempt all berth hiring and vessel related charges being currently levied to the Ro-Pax/Passenger Ferries for the next six months with immediate effect.

The cost of Marine fuel ‘Low Sulphur High Flash High Speed Diesel’ (LSHFHSD) has increased from Rs.76,000/KL to Rs.1,21,000/KL. Similarly, the cost of ‘Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil’(VLSFO) has increased from Rs.40608/KL to Rs.80917/KL. It is to be noted here that in the beginning of FY 2021-22 the cost of marine fuel-LSHFHSD used to be 10-15% less than retail diesel-HSD. Hence, effectively the rise is more than 40%.

To discuss the Impact of High Marine Fuel Prices and GST on Ferry Operations Union Minister MoPSW Shri Sarbananda Sonowal had recently held meeting with Navneet Mohan Kothari, Joint Secretary (GP Division) Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Niba Ram, Joint Commissioner, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance and other senior officials.

In this regard he had also written letters to Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister, Ministry of Finance and Corporate Affairs and Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas highlighting this issue and requested them to extend their support for this sector by reducing taxes and price of the Fuel respectively. MoPSW has also requested all the states to lower their rates of VAT over the HSD used by this sector.

It  is noteworthy that, marine fuel prices inclusive of taxes have cascading effect on the full value chain of Mass Surface Water transport system and ecosystem, the burden of which the ferry operators cannot pass on to the common public who has the option of using other Government subsidized public transport system of rail or road. These operational hurdles will ultimately act as stumbling block in establishing this budding ecosystem of surface water transportation in the country.

As per the notification no.1212017- Central Tax (rate) dated 28.06.2017, it is mentioned that service of transportation of passengers through inland waterways is exempted from GST. lf in case the GST component, applicable on spares and MRO services of the ferries, is passed on to the passengers where Mass Surface Water transport system and ecosystem is competing against the Govt. heavily subsidised Road, Rail and Air travel under Regional Air connective scheme UDAN, the price of tickets will increase and, the demand of the service may be impacted negatively.

Shri Sarbananda Sonowal said, “The rising Fuel cost at international level is now making our local Ro-Pax and Passenger Ferry operations unviable so this exemption of vessel and port related charges by MoPSW will provide the necessary breather to this sector for the next 6 months. We have also requested MoPNG to consider reduction in Fuel prices and Ministry of Finance to lower the associated taxes on it so as to provide the necessary support to this sector in present circumstances.”

The Ro-Pax services implemented by Deendayal Port Authority between Ghogha and Hazira under Sagarmala Programme have reduced travel time from 12 hrs. to 4 hrs. This Ro-Pax ferry service have carried over 78,000 vehicles and more than 2.6 lakh passengers since inception. Similarly, Maharashtra Maritime Board initiated Ro-Pax ferry service on Mumbai - Mandwa route. Project resulted in saving of around 3 hours of road travel against 45 minutes by sea route. More than 5.5 Lakh passengers have availed this Ro-Pax service and more than 1 lakh vehicles have been transported.

In order to promote the surface water transportation and to encourage the newly emerging inland passenger and vehicle movement eco system of the country, the various issues of rising Global Marine Fuel prices and their bunker pricing, ineffective GST input credit for Ferry Operators, Growing difference between the cost of Marine Fuel and Retail Fuel should be looked into and necessary consideration should be given to promote this sector.

19-Jul-2022: Development of ports

The power for establishment of new Major Ports and administrative control of Major Ports vests with the Central Government. Establishment & administrative control of Non Major Ports are within the purview of respective State Governments. As per the provisions of the Major Port Authorities, Act, 2021, the Boards of the respective Major Ports are authorized to make rules or regulations to develop and provide infrastructure facilities and such other infrastructure in the interest of the Major Port. Keeping in view the future requirements, Major Ports are developing some berths, terminals, oil jetties, etc. to enhance their capacity and operational efficiency.

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways has identified 81 Public Private Partnership (PPP) Projects (value Rs. 42,300 Crore) till financial year 2024-25 for developing major ports’ berths, terminals, oil jetties, etc. As on March-2022, the capacity of Major Ports of India is 1598 MTPA, whereas the Major Ports have handled 720 MT traffic during the financial year 2021-22.

21-Jun-2022: MoU signed between Directorate General of Shipping and Indian Navy for transition of Indian Navy Personnel to Merchant Navy

The Directorate General of Shipping under Ministry of Ports Shipping and Waterways has issued DGS Order No 17 dated 20th June 2022 detailing 16 transition schemes for Indian Navy Personnel to Merchant Navy. These transition schemes have been drawn after a detailed discussion with Indian Navy.

These Schemes enable smooth transition of the retiring Indian Navy Personnel into Merchant Navy by acquiring necessary certification to work on Merchant Ships in accordance with the Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping Convention of International Maritime Organisation.

To implement these schemes, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed by Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, AVSM, NM, Chief of Personnel on behalf of Indian Navy and Shri Amitabh Kumar, Director General of Shipping, on behalf of Directorate General of Shipping, Ministry of Ports Shipping and Waterways, Govt. of India.

Some of the key highlights of the transition schemes are:

• It caters for transition of personnel involved in Engine Room work on Naval Ships that is from rating to artificers to Engineers and also provides option for those working on electrical duties as well as mechanical engine duties.
• It caters for equivalent transition with minimum bridge courses, sea-service & examination of those who during their tenure with Indian Navy have reached a certain position but were unable to gain step by step STCW Certification.
• It further provides various options to Indian Navy Personnel from NCV Ship to Foreign Going Ships certification.
• It also caters for step by step STCW Certification right from Officer in-charge of an engineering branch to second engineer to Chief Engineer of a merchant ship to be gained by an Indian Navy personnel as he progresses in his career in Indian Navy. This helps when a Naval engineering personnel leaves Indian Navy only after a few years of service, yet the necessary STCW Certification facilitates his smooth transition to merchant navy.
• It smoothens the process of Mechanical Artificers to become Chief Engineer of Merchant Ships operating in Near Coast Area and with propulsion power less than 3000 KW.
• It allows for Electrical Engineers and Electrical Artificers to become Electro-technical officers of Merchant ships with respective bridging courses.
• Specialist executive branch officers of the Indian navy to obtain Certificate of Competency as Officer in charge of navigational watch on ships of 500 gross tonnage or more (i.e. 2nd Mate (FG/NCV)), Chief Mate and Master (Foreign going and Near coastal voyages) of a merchant navy vessels.
• Indian navy executive branch officer to obtain Certificate of competency as “Officer in charge of navigational watch on ships of 500 gross
• The radio officers of the Indian navy can obtain certificate of competency as General radio operators of Merchant navy vessels. The Indian navy deck sailors can transit to merchant navy deck ratings forming part of a navigational watch. Indian navy Chefs to Certified merchant navy cooks.

The scheme envisages acceptance of training given by the Indian Navy to its officers and ratings and the sea service experience on Indian Naval or cargo ships on the basis of a certificate issued by the Indian Navy.

15-Jun-2021: Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ministry of Civil Aviation sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Development of Sea Plane Services in India

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ministry of Civil Aviation for development of Sea Plane services in India was signed today. Union Minister of State (I/C) for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Mansukh Mandaviya and Union Minister of State (I/C) Civil Aviation Shri Hardeep Singh Puri were present during the MoU signing ceremony held today at Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Signing of this MoU is a major milestone for making seaplanes project a reality very soon. This MoU envisages development of Non Scheduled/Scheduled operation of seaplane services within territorial jurisdiction of India under RCS-UDAN scheme of government of India. As per MoU, a Co-ordination Committee with officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) and Ministry of Tourism (MoT) is to be set up for timely completion of operationalisation of Seaplane services at various locations. MoCA, MoPSW, SDCL (Sagarmala Development Company Limited) will consider operationalising of Seaplane operating routes as identified/suggested by all agencies.

Speaking on this occasion, the Minister of State (I/C) for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya said that signing of the MoU will be a game changer both for Indian Maritime and Civil Aviation sector as it will not only enhance seamless connectivity across the nation by promoting eco-friendly transportation through Seaplanes but also give a boost to the tourism industry.

On the occasion, the Minister of State (I/C) for Civil Aviation Shri Hardeep Singh Puri said that this MoU between the two Ministries will help in expediting the development of new water aerodromes and also operationalization of new seaplane routes in India. He further stated that this will give a big fillip to the provision of a new kind of tourism service in India.

MoPSW would identify and develop water front infrastructure of Aerodromes/locations and obtain required statutory clearances /approvals in coordination with MoCA, DGCA and AAI by defining the timelines for all activities involved in the development of facilities for starting seaplanes operations.

MoCA would carry out bidding and select potential airlines operators based on their commercial consideration through bidding process, incorporate the locations/routes as identified by MoPSW & routes identified through bidding process in UDAN scheme document. MoCA is also obliged to provide funds/financial support in respect of water aerodromes awarded under RCS-UDAN scheme and coordinate with Chief Secretaries of all States for the Seaplanes operations.

Shri Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Dr. Sanjeev Ranjan, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Shri Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Shri Sanjeev Kumar, Chairman, Airport Authority of India along with other senior officials were present at the occasion.

21-Dec-2020: Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways identifies new routes for RO-RO, RO-PAX & Ferry Services

Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) has been working continuously for the promotion of Coastal Shipping under Sagarmala Programme. The Sagarmala programme is the flagship programme of the Ministry to promote port-led development in the country through harnessing India’s 7,500 Km long coastline and potentially navigable waterways.

MoPSW has identified Domestic locations namely Hazira, Okha, Somnath Temple, DIU, PIPAVAV, Dahej, Mumbai/JNPT, Jamnagar, Kochi, Ghogha, Goa, Mundra and Mandvi and 6 International routes, connecting 4 international destinations namely Chattogram (Bangladesh), Seychelles (East Africa) Madagascar (East Africa) and Jaffna (Sri Lanka) from Indian major coastal port towns for the commencement of ferry services through inland waterways.

MoPSW, through Sagarmala Development Company Limited (SDCL), is desirous of facilitating the companies to operate RO-RO, RO-PAX and Ferry services on various routes across the nation and provide the required support to make the project operational.

MOPSW has recently successfully implemented one of such ferry routes by deploying RoPAX vessel ferry service between Hazira and Ghogha. This ferry service has reduced the distance between Ghogha and Hazira from 370 Km to 90 Km and travel time from 10 to 12 hours to about 5 hours. This will result in huge savings of fuel (approx. 9000 litres per day)

To replicate the success of the above business model, MoPSW now encourages the private operator to identify the routes, which offers potential to commence the RO-RO, RO-PAX ferry service based on the localized demand to promote the supplementary and sustainable mode of the transportation through coastal/inland water. The purpose is to:

1. Create a supplementary mode of transportation, which will not only be beneficial for the daily commuters, tourists’ movement and cargo transportation but also helpful in reducing carbon footprint by shifting to environment-friendly mode of transportation from rail and road.
2. Provide impetus to the tourism industry
3. Create job opportunities in the coastal regions
4. Saving in terms of both cost and time for the users
5. Decongest road and rail networks

Sagarmala Development Company Ltd will support the initiative by providing equity to the project in SPV framework, if required, and provide other assistance and facilitation to the private Operator(s) including obtaining various permissions and approvals from regulatory and statutory Government Authorities.

10-Sep-2020: Shri Mansukh Mandaviya launches ‘SAROD-Ports’ today

Union Minister of State for Shipping (I/C) Shri Mansukh Mandaviya today launched ‘SAROD-Ports’ (Society for Affordable Redressal of Disputes - Ports) through virtual ceremony today in New Delhi.

Speaking at the launching, Shri Mansukh Mandaviya termed SAROD-Ports as a game changer and added that it will become the pivotal mechanism of ummeed (hope), vishwas(trust) and nyaya (justice) in the Port sector of India. Shri Mandaviya also added that enforcement of concession agreements in the letter and spirit is on the utmost priority. SAROD-Ports will resolve the disputes in fair and just manner while saving huge amount of legal expenditure and time.

Dr Sanjiv Ranjan, Secretary, Ministry of Shipping said that all major Ports are shifting towards ‘Landlord Model’ in the days to come. Many concessioners will be working with the Major Ports. SAROD-Ports will inspire confidence in the private players and will ensure right kind of environment for our partners. It will promote ease of doing business in the maritime sector because of the fast, timely, cost effective and robust dispute resolution mechanism.

SAROD-Ports is established under Societies Registration Act, 1860 with the following objectives:

1. Affordable and timely resolution of disputes in fair manner
2. Enrichment of Dispute Resolution Mechanism with the panel of technical experts as arbitrators.

SAROD-Ports consists members from Indian Ports Association (IPA) and Indian Private Ports and Terminals Association (IPTTA).

SAROD-Ports will advise and assist in settlement of disputes through arbitrations in the maritime sector, including ports and shipping sector in Major Port Trusts, Non-major Ports, including private ports, jetties, terminals and harbours. It will also cover disputes between granting authority and Licensee/Concessionaire /Contractor   and also disputes between Licensee/Concessionaire and their contractors arising out of and during the course of execution of various contracts.

‘SAROD-Ports’ is similar to provision available in Highway Sector in the form of SAROD-Roads constituted by NHAI.

Background: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved amendments in the Model Concession Agreement (MCA). In January,2018. The amendments in the MCA, envisaged constitution SAROD-PORTS as dispute resolution mechanism for PPP Projects in the Major Ports.