Cabinet revises captive berth policy for major ports: All you need to know

The Union Cabinet on Friday approved a revised policy that decides how waterfront and associated land can be awarded to Port Dependent Industries (PDIs) in major ports.

The revised policy from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) allows existing captive users to add new berth/jetty/terminal/single buoy mooring (SBM) for Enhanced Captive Requirement up to 30 years for government entities.

The new policy also builds on the 2016 original, addressing changes arising out of evolving business and regulatory conditions.

Captive users, also called PDIs, are typically industrial plants that use a dedicated port facility exclusively to handle raw materials or products for their own manufacturing or production processes.

Union Minister (MoPSW), Sarbananda Sonowal, noted that the revissions in the policy reflected the Centre's commitment to creating a predictable, transparent and investor-friendly framework for port-led industrial growth.

"The revised Captive Policy is a major reform that balances investor confidence with public interest," said Sonowal.

He added that providing long-term certainty to existing operators, facilitating capacity expansion, and creating a transparent framework for future investments would provide a major boost for India's infrastructure.

Apart from the 30-year upgrade plan, the revised policy also creates a structured mechanism for capacity expansion by existing captive users.

Major port authorities will undertake price discovery through competitive bidding between eligible PDIs handling the same cargo profile, while providing the existing concessionaire a Right of First Refusal (RoFR) to match the highest bid.

To prevent misuse of the expansion route for extending concession tenure, the concession period for any additional berth or terminal developed under the expansion proposal will remain co-terminus with the maximum permissible concession period of the existing facility, the statement said.

However, the policy removes competitive bidding for eligible government organisations, subject to availability and prescribed safeguards.

Eligible entities include Central and State Government departments, statutory authorities, autonomous bodies, Central and State Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs and SPSUs), and government-controlled joint ventures operating in sectors such as fertilisers, food, petroleum, oil and gas, coal, steel and other MoPSW-notified sectors. The concessions will be awarded at the notified floor price.

The policy will be implemented across all major ports for captive facilities and is expected to improve cargo throughput, optimise the utilisation of waterfront assets, and generate sustained revenue for ports without any financial implication for the Government of India.