BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Maritime Board Bill, 2020 was passed in the Assembly on Tuesday.The board will function as the single window facilitator for the overall maritime development of the State having a 480-km-long coastline. Piloting the Bill, Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera said the Board will provide policy, guidelines and directions for the integrated development of ports and inland water transport keeping in view of the country’s security and defence-related concerns.
It will take up the survey and techno-economic feasibility studies so as to facilitate private sector investment for the development of ports and port-based industries.The bill proposed that the maritime board will have the power to provide for the construction, maintenance and operation of ports in the State directly or through PPP mode. It will also regulate and control navigation within the limits of the port and port approaches. It will also exercise the supervision and control over all works relating to the ports in the State.
The board will initiate the development plans and frame guidelines for non-nationalised inland waterways in the State. Also, the licensing and regulatory functions in respect of port infrastructure and services and non-nationalized inland waterways will be vested with the board.Besides the Paradip Port, which is a major port functioning under the Union ministry of Shipping, two non-major ports at Dhamra and Gopalpur are operational in the State. Two more non-major ports at Astaranga and Subarnarekha mouth are under construction, the Minister added.