India’s Ministry of Shipping grants greater financial power to major port trusts
New Delhi: In order to expedite decision making at the 12 major port trusts and help them function as commercial entities on par with other state-owned firms, India’s Ministry of Shipping has granted greater financial powers to their governing boards.
For capital expenditure, the Board of trustees will have powers to sign off investments up to INR2bn ($32m). The chairmen, deputy chairmen and head of departments have varying levels of financial powers to sanction costs within this ceiling.
This is the second decision taken by the Ministry of Shipping in just over a fortnight, to help the 12 major ports to compete effectively with private ports. Earlier this month, the Ministry had granted flexibility to the port trusts to set tariffs based on market forces.
Apart from improving the functioning of the ports, officials reckon that this could be the first step towards converting the port trusts into corporate entities like Ennore.
