resources. Major ports in India have, between them, 2.64 lakh acres of land. Though a major resource, the land utilisation has not been optimum and has often yielded lesser re- turns. The thrust of the new pol- icy, therefore, has been on linking the value of land with prevailing market rates. Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) has about 741 acres for leas- ing purposes, including 70 acres of vacant land. A large part of the vacant land can be leased out now. MPT Chairman Rajeev Gupta could not quantify the nancial gain, though he said that the port trust was cur- rently getting lease rentals of Rs.120 crore. Similarly, Jawaharlal Neh- ru Port Trust (JNPT) can monetise 1976 acres outside the customs bond area, ac- cording to its Chairman-in- charge NN Kumar. We dont have much land inside the customs bond area and the new policy will help in in- creasing throughput. This policy has come at the right time and we will lease out most of the land outside the customs bond area and at- tract more port-related busi- nesses to stay ahead in the race, Mr. Kumar said. Under the new y guide- lines, land can be allotted on- ly through licensing in custom bond areas for only ve years by inviting compet- itive bidding, while land out- side custom bond areas can be leased through tender- cum-auction for 30 years. There is also a provision to licence land outside custom bond areas, but it should be only for port-related activ- ities. For leasing of land up to 99 years, approval of the govern- ment has to be obtained. All the land deals need to be rat- ied by Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP). The new guidelines were applica- ble to all major ports, except for 10,000 acres relating to township areas in Mumbai, Kolkata and Kandla, said Sambit Tripathy, Director, Ministry of Shipping. The new guidelines for land management are part of the ongoing process of port reforms and liberalisation, said shipping ministry offi- cials. While major ports, own- ed by the Centre, operate in a regulated environment, the non-major ports compris- ing state ports and private ports enjoy a substantial degree of exibility. The new policy guidelines are, therefore, part of the gov- ernments plan towards cre- ating a level-playing eld for major and non-major ports. The 12 major ports in India Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Marmugao, New Managlore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O Chidambarnar, Visakha- patnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia) handle about 61 per cent of cargo traffic. MUMBAI: The Central Govern- ment, on Thursday, unveiled new policy guidelines for 12 major ports, a move that would allow the ports to lev- erage their land resources for commercial benet. The guidelines, aimed at bringing transparency, were approved by the Cabinet on January 2, and were an- nounced by Shipping Secre- tary Vishwapati Trivedi at a conference here on Thursday. The new guidelines will provide the necessary regu- latory framework for land al- lotment by major ports across India. Mr. Trivedi said these guidelines had been drawn to help ports carry out leasing and licensing of port land in a transparent manner. Discretionary powers have been reduced and tender- cum-auction had been pre- scribed as the most preferred method of allotment, he added. The guidelines are expect- ed to give a llip to major ports and help them attract New land policy guidelines for major ports unveiled Special Correspondent A view of Mumbai Port- FILE PHOTO: PAUL NORONHA