Shashi Tharoor
As the Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram – a coastal constituency in Kerala that hosts the ambitious and innovative new Vizhinjam port project – I might have been expected to welcome the passage of three major maritime laws in the recently concluded session of Parliament. After all, these reforms promise to modernise India’s ports and shipping sector, a domain of direct relevance to my constituents and to the country’s economic aspirations.
Yet, I find myself caught between cautious optimism and deep unease. The legislative trifecta – the Indian Ports Act, 2025; the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025; and the Coastal Shipping Act, 2025 – was passed in a session marred by disruption, without meaningful debate or scrutiny. For laws that reshape the very architecture of India’s maritime governance, this procedural bypass is troubling in itself. But it is the substance of the reforms that leaves me more concerned than comforted.
Centralising Authority
Let me begin with the Indian Ports Act, 2025, which replaces the century-old framework of older legislation passed in 1908. On paper, it is a long-overdue update. India’s maritime regulation has lagged behind global standards, fragmented across jurisdictions and outdated in its treatment of shipping finance, offshore operations and international conventions. The new Act promises coherence, sustainability, and ease of doing business – goals I wholeheartedly support.
But the manner in which this coherence is achieved raises red flags. The Act centralises authority through the Maritime State Development Council, chaired by the Union Minister of Ports. This body is empowered to issue binding guidelines to States, effectively subordinating regional priorities to central plans like Sagarmala and PM Gati Shakti. Far from embodying cooperative federalism, the Act risks reducing States to mere implementers of centrally dictated visions.
The Erosion Of Flexibility
As someone who represents a coastal state with its own maritime ambitions, I worry about the erosion of fiscal autonomy and planning flexibility. Kerala’s port development strategy, for instance, may not always align with national logistics corridors or industrial clusters. Yet, under the new law, state maritime boards cannot revise their frameworks without Central approval. This is not partnership – it is prescription.
The concerns extend beyond federalism. Clause 17 of the Ports Act bars civil courts from adjudicating port-related disputes, directing parties instead to internal committees constituted by the very authorities they may be contesting. The absence of independent judicial review is not a minor technicality – it undermines investor confidence and sets a worrying precedent for regulatory opacity.
The Dilution Of Ownership Norms
The Merchant Shipping Act, 2025, is also a mixed bag. It modernises vessel registration, safety norms, environmental obligations, and liability frameworks. It expands definitions to include offshore drilling units and non-displacement crafts, and tightens oversight of maritime training institutes. These are welcome steps. But buried in the fine print is a dilution of ownership safeguards. Under the previous law, Indian-flagged vessels had to be fully Indian-owned. The new Act permits partial ownership by Overseas Citizens of India and foreign entities, with thresholds to be decided later by executive notification. This ambiguity is dangerous. It hands the government a blank cheque to redefine ownership norms without parliamentary oversight, raising the spectre of India becoming a flag-of-convenience jurisdiction – where foreign interests control ships flying the Indian flag. Moreover, the Act mandates registration of all vessels, regardless of size or propulsion. This blanket requirement may overwhelm small operators, especially in the fishing sector, with bureaucratic burdens they are ill-equipped to bear. Reform must be enabling, not exclusionary.
Endangering Small Operators
The Coastal Shipping Act, 2025, completes the trio. Its stated aim is to strengthen cabotage rules, ensuring that only Indian-flagged vessels engage in domestic coastal trade. Again, the intent is sound. But the execution falters. The Director General of Shipping is granted sweeping discretion to license foreign vessels on grounds as vague as “national security” or “alignment with strategic plans”. These open-ended clauses invite arbitrary application and undermine the very cabotage protections the Act claims to uphold. Small operators, particularly in coastal communities like those I represent, will bear the brunt. Mandatory voyage and cargo reporting requirements are introduced without clear guidance on data use or protection. The National Coastal and Inland Shipping Strategic Plan, centrally mandated, risks sidelining local voices and priorities.
Across all three laws, a pattern emerges: the executive is empowered at the expense of states, small operators, and institutional checks. Ownership thresholds, licensing rules, dispute resolution mechanisms – many are left to future notifications rather than being clearly specified in law. This not only weakens democratic accountability but also creates uncertainty for stakeholders.
Empower, Don’t Marginalise
Let me be clear: I do not oppose reform. India’s maritime sector needs modernisation. We must attract investment, enhance competitiveness, and align with global norms. But reform must be rooted in democratic process, federal balance, and regulatory clarity. It must empower – not marginalise – the very actors who sustain our maritime economy. As a parliamentarian, I am troubled by the absence of deliberation. These laws were passed without referral to a standing committee, without engagement with coastal states, and without consultation with industry stakeholders. In a sector as complex and consequential as maritime governance, such legislative haste is not reform – it is imposition.
The Vizhinjam port in my constituency, built and operated by Adani Ports, is a symbol of India’s maritime ambition. It is designed to be a state-of-the-art trans-shipment hub, a gateway to global trade. The pride I felt on seeing a young girl, born in a fishermen’s family, operating one of the largest cranes in the world with a computer joystick and a screen in an air-conditioned control room, is difficult to describe. This is progress that both benefits people and ensures profit. Yet, its success depends not just on infrastructure, but on policy, on laws that are fair, transparent, and inclusive, and on a governance framework that respects both national strategy and regional nuance.
The new maritime laws may be a beginning. But unless amended to restore federal balance, clarify regulatory norms, and ensure judicial independence, they risk delivering ease of business for the few while eroding the foundations of cooperative governance. India’s maritime future deserves better – and so do its coastal communities.
The article appeared in ndtv
