Bhubaneswar: The state Assembly Tuesday passed the Odisha Maritime Board Bill, 2020 for the holistic development of maritime activities in the state.
Though the Odisha Maritime Board Bill, 2020, was tabled in the Winter session of the Assembly, it could not be passed. It was passed after a thorough discussion in the House Tuesday.
An Odisha Maritime Board headed by the Chief Secretary will be established for administration, control and management of non-major ports and non-nationalised inland waterways. The state commerce and transport secretary will be the member secretary of the 12-member board.
The board will take a call on the issues relating to its establishment, administration and control, management of the existing and upcoming non-major ports and the development of potential port sites on the coastline of the state.
The board will also formulate policies, spell out guidelines and issue directions for the development of the port sector and other maritime activities in the state, Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera said.
“It will act as a facilitator and attract private investments in the sector and help develop inland waterways in the state,” he said.
The salient features of the Board will be to provide construction, maintenance and operation of all non-major ports in the state directly or through public-private-partnership (PPP) mode, he added.
Sources said the maritime legislation, once enacted, would also repeal the Orissa Port Trust Act of 1962.
Odisha is endowed with a vast coastline of 480 km, having rich, unique and natural port locations and perennial rivers. Out of the 14 sites identified for the development of 14 non-major ports, two at Gopalpur and Dhamra are operational and two at Astarang and Subarnarekha are in the pipeline.