Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways on Friday Sarbananda Sonowal, introduced ‘The Indian Ports Bill, 2025’ in the Lok Sabha.
The bill seeks to unify port-related laws, enhance integrated port development, simplify business operations, and maximize the use of India’s coastline.
It proposes the creation of State Maritime Boards to oversee non-major ports and establish a Maritime State Development Council for coordinated port sector growth.
Additionally, the bill outlines measures for pollution control, disaster management, security, safety, navigation, and data management at ports while ensuring compliance with India’s international obligations.
Opposing the introduction of the Bill, Sougata Ray (TMC) said the Indian Ports Act was enacted in 1908 and at that time all the ports were under the Centre.
“In recent times, many private ports have come up and parts of government ports have been leased to private companies,” he added.
K Radhakrishnan (CPI-M) said it encroaches upon the power of state governments as it seeks to centralise control over ports.
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