NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed The Indian Ports Bill, 2025, which seeks to consolidate the law relating to ports, promote integrated port development, facilitate ease of doing business, and ensure optimum utilisation of India’s coastline.The Indian Ports Bill 2025, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 12, was moved for consideration in the Upper House in the afternoon session amid noisy protests by the Opposition, who later staged a walkout demanding discussion on electoral rolls revision in Bihar.”This is more than a legislative change. It is a strategic intervention to reposition India’s maritime sector for the 21st century,” Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said while moving the legislation.Elaborating how India has expanded its port capacity and cargo handling drastically while cutting down ship turnaround times by nearly 49 per cent through mechanisation and digitalisation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sonowal said, “Despite this progress, we are still governed by a colonial relic — the Indian Ports Act of 1908.”This outdated statute lacks provisions for long-term planning, modern environmental safeguards, and efficient dispute resolution. It is a legislativeframework from a bygone era, unsuited for a modern, digitalised maritime ecosystem, the minister said.”The Indian Ports Bill, 2025 is our answer to this challenge. It is the product of extensive consultation with coastal states, industry stakeholders, and the public, embodying the spirit of cooperative federalism,” he asserted.He informed that the Bill is meticulously designed to align with the global best practices and decriminalises certain offences and removes outdated provisions replacing them with modern and relevant provisions, while ushering in more transparency in port tariff.Later, replying to the discussion on the Bill, Sonowal said the ministry was neglected by the Congress, alleging that in ten years from 2004 to 2014, only one new legislation was brought.On the other hand, he said, the NDA government has brought in 11 new legislations in the last 11 years and listed the new legislations related to the ministry brought by the Modi government.”They (Congress) did not have any legislative reform in their mind,” he asserted, adding the over 100 years old laws made by the British have become outdated and were not in sync with modern times.Sonowal said, “If the laws are modern, competitive, effective, business friendly, eco-friendly and people-friendly then only we can take the country forward through this bill.Referring to the Opposition who had staged a walkout, Sonowal said Congress and their alliance at least should “develop sense of respect to the nation because they are also citizens of the country”.They have also a big role to play as Opposition, the minister said, adding the role of Opposition is not only to oppose but they always posses two important qualities of “responsibility and responsiveness”.”But in this case, I have seen it. It is missing, very sad,” Sonowal said.The minister said the Indian Port Bill 2025 has been brought after wider consultations with all stake-holders, all coastal states and users of ports.”This is the power of reforms. This is through which we are going to make India one of the leading maritime nations in the world,” Sonowal asserted.”In line with our international obligation, the Bill empowers the government to direct ports to establish a maritime single window system enabling seamless electronic data exchange and improving the ease of doing business,” the minister said.
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