Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) is in the process to lease out key assets. The port chairman Venkata Ramana Akkaraju considers privatisation through the PPP route as the only way to ensure financial health.
Justifying the ongoing efforts to lease out key assets, Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) chairman Venkata Ramana Akkaraju insisted that privatisation through the Public Private Participation (PPP) route is the only way to ensure financial health.
Akkaraju also said that privatisation will generate employment for locals and also enable the port to provide better facilities to locals.
On August 30, TOI had reported that MPA had started the process of handing over Deepvihar Primary School and the MPA Hospital at Sada on a 30-year lease to private players.
The move to lease out Deepvihar school and the MPA hospital has sparked concern in the port town and among port employees.
The MPA chairman stressed that privatisation of berths 9, 10 and 11 for mechanisation and the school and port is vital in order to serve the larger population.
“The more infrastructure you create, the more cargo that you handle, and the more business you do, higher the employment opportunities for local youths. I am making it a point that whenever new projects come, more importance and thrust is given to employing local youths,” Akkaraju said.
He said that instead of the earlier model where the port depended on just one major commodity, the MPA needs to focus on a diversified cargo portfolio and think out of the box to make ends meet.
“The port-run school has various limitations. We have to rope in private players so that more people can get the right education. The main objective is to serve the society and make education affordable without touching the existing employment. Quality education is one of the factors we have in mind,” he said. The MPA chairman said that by handing over the MPA hospital to a private player, better medical facilities can be created with a super-specialty wing.
