Centre releases draft guidelines on deregulating PPP port tariffs

09 Oct 2024 CW Team

The shipping ministry noted that while tariffs were previously regulated due to a limited competitive landscape, the evolving market conditions now necessitate deregulation. The initial aim of introducing tariff regulations in 2005 was to protect user interests while ensuring fair returns for ports and promoting competition and efficiency. However, significant shifts in the market and competitive landscape in the Indian port sector have occurred since then.

Under the new draft guidelines, PPP operators will have the authority to set their own scale of rates (SOR), subject to signing a supplementary agreement. Historically, major port authorities served both as service providers to end users and as the concessioning authority, making tariff regulations crucial for protecting the interests of both port users and PPP operators.

With the transition to a landlord port model and increased private sector participation, the relevance of fixed tariff regulations has diminished. Several PPP operators have expressed concerns to the ministry, indicating that they face disadvantages compared to fully private ports due to the lack of parity in tariff fixation, making PPP projects less attractive.

While the new regulations will allow greater pricing flexibility, they will not affect government revenues generated from these PPP projects, as there will be no changes to the royalty structure. The draft guidelines state that the royalty as a revenue share for major ports will not fall below the amount it would have received under the previous tariff fixation regime. This will be accomplished by converting the revenue share to royalty based on the project's previously determined Annual Revenue Requirement. (Business Standard)

In response to longstanding demands from private port operators for parity between recent winners of public-private partnership (PPP) projects at major ports and those with older contracts, the Centre has issued draft guidelines for tariff migration. These guidelines will enable concessionaires to transition to a market-based tariff regime. The shipping ministry noted that while tariffs were previously regulated due to a limited competitive landscape, the evolving market conditions now necessitate deregulation. The initial aim of introducing tariff regulations in 2005 was to protect user interests while ensuring fair returns for ports and promoting competition and efficiency. However, significant shifts in the market and competitive landscape in the Indian port sector have occurred since then. Under the new draft guidelines, PPP operators will have the authority to set their own scale of rates (SOR), subject to signing a supplementary agreement. Historically, major port authorities served both as service providers to end users and as the concessioning authority, making tariff regulations crucial for protecting the interests of both port users and PPP operators. With the transition to a landlord port model and increased private sector participation, the relevance of fixed tariff regulations has diminished. Several PPP operators have expressed concerns to the ministry, indicating that they face disadvantages compared to fully private ports due to the lack of parity in tariff fixation, making PPP projects less attractive. While the new regulations will allow greater pricing flexibility, they will not affect government revenues generated from these PPP projects, as there will be no changes to the royalty structure. The draft guidelines state that the royalty as a revenue share for major ports will not fall below the amount it would have received under the previous tariff fixation regime. This will be accomplished by converting the revenue share to royalty based on the project's previously determined Annual Revenue Requirement. (Business Standard)

Infrastructure Energy

03 Nov 2025

GREW Solar Launches High-Power G12R Series

GREW Solar, one of India’s fastest-growing solar PV manufacturers, has launched its G12R High-Power Series ahead of REI Expo 2025, aligning with India’s renewable energy vision of 500 GW capacity by 2030. The launch comes amid record solar and wind generation in the first half of 2025, which cut nearly 24 million tonnes of emissions. The G12R High-Power Series, delivering up to 635 Wp, is designed for large-scale solar projects, cutting total module count by 6–8% per MW and reducing balance-of-system costs. It offers 6–7% higher container power density and 1.5–3% more power per ..

Products

03 Nov 2025

Godrej LAS Opens Mysore Experience Centre

Locks & Architectural Solutions (LAS), a business of Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG), has inaugurated a new Experience Centre in Mysore to strengthen its presence in Karnataka—one of its top three markets in India. The centre aims to provide homeowners, developers, and institutional clients a hands-on experience with Godrej’s latest range of mechanical and digital locks that combine safety, design, and sustainability. With Karnataka’s organised locks market growing at 6–7 per cent CAGR, LAS expects over 33 per cent growth in the next two years, driven by rising adoption of conn..

Technology

03 Nov 2025

Hindustan Zinc Boosts Mining Efficiency with IIoT Fleet Intelligence

Hindustan Zinc, India’s largest integrated zinc producer and among the top five global silver producers, has advanced its smart mining strategy through an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-powered fleet intelligence system. The initiative benchmarks the reliability and energy performance of Heavy Earth Moving Machinery (HEMM) to deliver real-time insights on uptime, reliability trends, and energy consumption. Over FY24–FY26, the system has achieved measurable improvements across key equipment categories — with Jumbo drilling machines recording a 28 per cent increase in uptime, Load H..