Panel head suggests major ports to expand capacity

Sitaram Yechury, who headed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture suggested major ports in the country to invest their surplus funds on modernisation and expansion projects.

He said major ports must raise capacity to cater to the projected rise in traffic to 1,229.24 million tonne by the end of the 12th five year Plan from the present level of 545.67 million tonne.

Yechury alleged that major ports in the country are now functioning like landlords rather than mercantile business hubs.

The government is treating them as landlords to earn revenue by outsourcing berth facilities built using public money, he alleged while speaking to a leading media. Some of the major ports are also acting like money lenders because they have surplus money in hand.

In its draft report, the Parliamentary committee opined that minor ports have already gone far ahead in capacity expansion, while it is not so in the case of the 12 major ports.