Parl passes Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill

Amid chaos by the Opposition over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the Rajya Sabha, Parliament on Wednesday passed the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2025, replacing a century-old colonial-era law with updated legislation designed to promote ease of doing business and make India’s shipping sector future-ready.

Chair Bhubaneshwar Kalita, however, said anything unrelated to the Bill would not go on record.

The Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill, 2025, was passed that repealed a century-old Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 1925. The new legislation is part of the government’s broader effort to modernise India’s legal framework by eliminating outdated colonial-era laws and aligning with global best practices to improve ease of doing business.

The Bill adopts Hague-Visby Rules, a globally accepted maritime standard also followed by countries like the UK. By replacing complexity with clarity, the legislation is expected to simplify maritime trade laws, reduce litigation risks and enhance transparency and commercial efficiency in cargo movement by sea.

The Act establishes the responsibilities, liabilities, rights and immunities in case of goods carried from a port in India to another port in the country or any other in the world. It also attempts to modernise and update legal framework as well as enhance ease of doing business in India’s maritime sector.

The Bill was introduced by Shantanu Thakur, the Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) in the Rajya Sabha.

Thakur said, “The repeal of this pre-Constitution era legislation and its replacement with a new legislation is a part of the greater initiative of this Government to rid ourselves of all vestiges of colonial mindset and to ensure ease of understanding and ease of doing business through simple and rationalised laws. This Bill is not merely a statutory reform — it reflects a broader philosophy of governance led by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”