Model Concession Agreement, 2021, finalised

In a major development, the MoPSW has finalised the Model Concession Agreement, 2021 (MCA 2021) for public-private partnership (PPP) projects at major ports. Some of the salient features of the MCA 2021 are: remedy to the concessionaire in the form of a change in the cargo and related business revival plan; levy and recovery of tariff revised to align with the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021, enabling the concessionaire to fix tariffs based on market conditions; minimum guaranteed throughput to be linked to royalty payment and bidding parameters in line with changes in the tariff levying mechanism; and compensation to be provided for termination of concession agreements due to concessionaire default prior to commercial operation date. The MCA 2021 will also be applicable to PPP projects already approved by the government and still at the bidding stage.