Except Gujarat, all coastal states oppose minor ports draft: Velu

“In the second meeting for the Draft Minor Ports Bill, 2021, all the coastal states except Gujarat have opposed the Draft Bill. The Bill seeks to reduce the powers of the state government in operating and maintaining minor ports,” said the Minister in Chennai. Recently, the Union government introduced the Draft Minor Ports Bill, 2021, proposing to strengthen the Maritime State Development Council (MSDC) for better maintenance of minor ports in the country. But, state governments, including Tamil Nadu, have raised strong objection to the Bill claiming that it will take away the rights of the state government in handling minor ports. Even Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote a letter to Chief Ministers of coastal states to oppose the Draft Bill.

Meanwhile, the second meeting for consulting the Bill was held on Thursday in which Velu said that there are 17 minor ports in Tamil Nadu in which already seven are managed by the Central government. In MSDC, there are 13 members but the Centre proposes to increase the members to 21 to have majority in the body and to take decisions on their own.