Media reports indicate that it may take at least four to five months to appoint a new chairman for the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), whose current Chairman L Radhakrishnan was appointed home secretary of Kerala.
Radhakrishnan was the chairman of the largest container port in the country for over three years. Till the time a new chairman is appointed, the deputy chairman has been handed charge and some reports suggest that the chairman of another port could be asked to handle affairs as an interim arrangement.
Delay in the appointment of a new chairman may affect projects in the pipeline at the port. Among the projects slated soon are a Rs 9,000-crore mega container terminal project in May besides commissioning a smaller container terminal project at the JNPT.
Both projects are crucial to decongest the capacity constrained port, functioning at more than 100 percent of its capacity.
Already the mega container terminal project has been delayed by more than three years and the port authority plans to invite fresh tender for the project.
Radhakrishnan, seen as a proactive chairman, was instrumental in settling a long pending land allocation problem with the locals during his tenure.
Among the issues that the new chairman will have to resolve is the labour resentment against the corporatizing of the port.
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