Bill to amend the Kerala Maritime Board Act is introduced, putting the Chief Minister at the head of the Board and creating a maritime land bank

14 October 2026

A Bill to amend the Kerala Maritime Board Act, 2017 was introduced in the Kerala Legislative Assembly by Chief Minister V D Satheesan as part of the State's Mission Samudra. Under it the Chief Minister would head the Kerala Maritime Board directly; until now the chair came from serving or retired IAS officers or former heads of public sector undertakings. A separate port development authority would be set up under the Board for each port. State-owned land linked to ports would be pooled into a maritime land bank, with land held by other departments transferred to the Board. The Board can at present lease land for up to 30 years; the amendments would let it transfer land for public-private partnership projects and extend lease periods where a project brings higher investment. More than 20 port-based projects that had finished planning were stalled for want of a legal provision to hand over land for PPP projects.