Concession agreements for 4 Gujarat ports to run out in 10 yrs; 3 operators search extension

The concession agreements of 4 essential ports in Gujarat — Pipavav, Mundra, Hazira, and Dahej — are set to run out within the subsequent 10 years, and three of the port operators have already utilized for an extension of their respective 30-year agreements.

In keeping with the Gujarat authorities, in 2011 and 2021, APM Terminals Pipavav, which operates the Pipavav port, utilized for extension of its 30-year concession settlement of the port, which is about to run out on September 29, 2028. Equally, Adani Port and Particular Financial Zone (APSEZ) additionally made comparable purposes in 2015 and 2021 for an extension of the settlement for Mundra, which ends on February 16, 2031.

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Petronet LNG Ltd, with Bharat Petroleum Company Ltd, GAIL (India) Ltd, Indian Oil Company Ltd, and Oil and Pure Fuel Company as promoters, has utilized for an extension of its settlement for Dahej port in 2012 and 2013. The concession settlement for Petronet LNG Ltd expires in December 2035. 

“Upon the request of assorted port operators whose concession agreements are set to run out within the subsequent 10 years, discussions have been ongoing for a number of years relating to the coverage to be adopted sooner or later. No bulletins have been made by the federal government relating to the extension of those agreements up to now,” the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) mentioned in an announcement. 

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GMB said that underneath the Construct-Personal-Function-Switch (BOOT) coverage of 1997, it has entered into concession agreements with Pipavav, Mundra, Hazira, Dahej, Charra, and Jafrabad port, to assist them develop over an preliminary 30-year interval. A few of these agreements even have provisions for extensions, GMB said. It additionally claimed that coastal states like Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh have concession agreements starting from 30 to 99 years.

The assertion from the Gujarat authorities got here after Congress chief Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Adani Group — which controls Mundra, Hazira, and Dahej ports — had requested the Gujarat authorities earlier than the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to increase the concession interval for the ports by one other 45 years, making the overall concession interval 75 years. The Congress chief claimed that the Adani proposal “obtained clearances from all stakeholders required.”

The fourth port in Gujarat for which the concession settlement expires is Hazira port. The concession settlement for this port, managed by Adani Hazira Port Ltd — a subsidiary of APSEZ — expires in April 2035.