Almost twenty-five years after its establishment as India’s only corporate state-owned port under the Companies Act, Kamarajar Port Ltd continues to be referred to as Kamarajar Port Trust, not only in the Union Budget documents but also by the government’s official communication wing, the Press Information Bureau (PIB). On Saturday, the PIB issued a press release titled ‘Kamarajar Port Trust marks silver jubilee with major expansion projects, foundation stone laid for Rs 5.45 billion capital dredging and Command Centre’.

The silver jubilee celebration was attended by Sarbananda Sonowal, the Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.

The PIB is not the only entity referring to Kamarajar Port Ltd using the wrong legal structure. The Union Budget continues to label the other 11 state-owned ports as ‘trusts,’ even though they have transitioned into ‘authorities’ under the Major Port Authorities Act, which was passed by Parliament and notified in the gazette on 18 February 2021.

The Narendra Modi-led government had originally intended to ‘corporatise’ the major port trusts, following the Kamarajar Port Ltd model, but strong opposition from port unions led the government to opt for the ‘authorities’ model to enhance port efficiency. The new law provides greater autonomy and flexibility to these 11 state-owned ports, enabling them to professionalise their governance and make faster decisions, helping them compete with modern private ports operated as companies.

Kamarajar Port Ltd, originally known as Ennore Port Ltd, is excluded from the Major Port Authorities Act due to concerns that its inclusion would be a “retrograde” step, conflicting with the government’s vision for port operations.

Interestingly, Kamarajar Port Ltd ceased to be a public sector undertaking in March 2020, after the government sold two-thirds of its shares to the Chennai Port Authority in a government-to-government disinvestment deal. Even after its acquisition by Chennai Port Authority, Kamarajar Port Ltd retained its corporate structure and continues to function as a company under the Companies Act. It is governed by a board headed by a Chairman who also serves as the Chairman of Chennai Port Authority.

The government has assured Parliament multiple times, in response to questions from lawmakers, that there are “no proposals” to convert Kamarajar Port Ltd into a port authority, let alone a ‘port trust.’

However, those responsible for drafting the Budget documents and the PIB, which disseminates developments related to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, seem to overlook this.

It remains unclear whether the government continues to ‘trust’ the former ‘trusts’ legal structure for state-owned ports more than the ‘authorities’ model when allocating funds in the Union Budget. While this could be an oversight by the Union Budget and PIB, consistently referring to Kamarajar Port Ltd under an outdated legal structure is in poor taste. It is even more problematic to assign the port a structure (trust) that has been discarded for the 11 other ports.