Private investment seems reluctant to step into the ports sector, at a time when policy says this source is to be encouraged. The shipping ministry is planning to invest in a project at Visakhapatnam port which has been put out for bidding twice in the past year and attracted no private participation. The cost is estimated at Rs 300-400 crore. Over the past two months, projects at the Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Tuticorin port trusts have not seen a single bid from the private sector.

On the Vizag project, the government is proposing to build a jetty from port trust funds and later put up bids to find a private operator. “There is a lot of stress these days on awarding all projects on a public-private partnership basis. But the private sector has not showed any interest in port projects over the past year,” said a senior shipping ministry official. The ministry is to now seek approval to go ahead with the project, converting it into a public-funded one, the official told Business Standard.

Chennai port has not got any bids for a Ro-Ro terminal and a container freight station it wanted to build at Sriperumbudur.

For the 2012-17 Plan, the shipping ministry has set a target of generating private investment of Rs 1,71,548 crore. It had managed to achieve only 40 per cent of the total investment target during the earlier Plan, at Rs 35,536 crore.

According to experts, the economic slowdown has led to a fall in business and trade activity at ports, discouraging the private sector from making huge investments. Besides, the availability of credit has become an issue for port companies, which are facing troubled times.

Within the shipping ministry, there is a view that since it announced an intention to transform the Tariff Authority on Major Ports from a regulatory to an appellate body, the private sector wants to invest only after a decision on this is taken. Rates in major ports are regulated by TAMP, unlike the non-major ones, run by states.