The Ministry of Ports, shipping and waterways vide its notification dated 1st January 2021 has invited comments from the public on Draft Dredging Guidelines for the Major Ports which shall be addressed to the Development Wing, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways at anil.pruthi@nic.in within 30 days up to January 31, 2021.
Key Highlights from the guidelines:
- These guidelines are applicable to all Major Ports for the planning and execution of dredging projects.
- Under the new guidelines, all dredging contracts at federal government-owned, landlord ports will be awarded through a competitive bidding process. For capital dredging contracts, the government reserves the right to appoint state-owned Dredging Corporation of India on a nomination basis without calling for bids.
- The guidelines also allow domestic companies with India-flag dredgers, including DCI, “first right of refusal” on both capital and maintenance contracts if their quoted rates are within 10 percent of the lowest bid received.
- The major ports may invite open competitive bidding for dredging projects after obtaining the approval of Board of Trustees/Directors.
- The draft guidelines aim to move towards the international standard of working by adopting CIRIA methodology for cost estimation of dredging works, PIANC classification for soil modeling, and survey techniques based on the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH)/International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) requirements.
