Expressing dissatisfaction at major ports lagging behind their counterparts in Singapore or Hong Kong, the Economic Survey on Thursday called for establishing an institutional mechanism that enhances performance and fosters competition.

"The key question that requires focus is establishing a framework through which there is competition between multiple operators in a given port, and competition between ports," the pre-Budget policy document said.

Important experiments are currently taking place across the country in terms of new contractual structures. They have already yielded results in terms of giving a sharp improvement as compared to the state of ports in India as of 1995.

"Key insight has been the extent to which existing port facilities can yield better output given better institutional mechanisms, without requiring substantial new investments," it said.

Stating that recent policy initiatives have ushered in new institutional arrangements, and have yielded results, the Survey said though the performance metrics had improved considerably, they continue to lag by international standards.

Private investment in the sector has been mainly from captive users, and these port terminals now compare well with international norms in efficiency.