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The concession agreements for four major ports in Gujarat—Pipavav, Mundra, Hazira, and Dahej—are scheduled to expire within the next decade. Three of the port operators have already applied for extensions to their 30-year agreements.
APM Terminals Pipavav, which operates the Pipavav port, applied for an extension in 2011 and again in 2021. The current concession agreement is set to end on September 29, 2028. Similarly, Adani Port and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) has sought extensions for its Mundra port concession, with applications made in 2015 and 2021. The Mundra concession is due to expire on February 16, 2031.
Petronet LNG Ltd, in partnership with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, GAIL (India) Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, applied for an extension of its Dahej port concession in 2012 and 2013. This agreement is set to expire in December 2035.
The Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) stated that discussions regarding the extension of these agreements have been ongoing for several years, but no official announcements have been made yet. Under the Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) policy of 1997, the GMB entered into 30-year concession agreements with various ports, including Pipavav, Mundra, Hazira, and Dahej. Some of these agreements include extension provisions. The GMB also noted that other coastal states like Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh have concession agreements ranging from 30 to 99 years.
The statement from the Gujarat government follows allegations by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who claimed that the Adani Group—managing Mundra, Hazira, and Dahej ports—requested an extension of 45 years for these concessions before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, making the total concession period 75 years. Ramesh alleged that the proposal had received the necessary clearances from stakeholders.
The fourth port, Hazira, managed by Adani Hazira Port Ltd, a subsidiary of APSEZ, has a concession agreement that expires in April 2035. |