India has 22 major ports and many minor ports; the major ports are the gateways to India’s economy. There are 12 Important seaports in India, controlled by the central government, and 10 of them are foreign-trade ports and economically significant. Some of these major ports in India are Mumbai Port Trust, Chennai Port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Nhava Sheva Port, Kolkata Port Trust, Cochin Port Trust,l etc.
Mumbai – Navi Mumbai- Maharashtra
Kolkata – Kolkata – West Bengal
Chennai – Chennai – Tamil Nadu
Kochi – Cochin – Kerala
Visakhapatnam (Vizag) – Visakhapatnam – Andhra Pradesh
Paradip – Jagatsin ghpur – Odisha
New Mangalore (NMPT) – Mangalore – Karnataka
Kandla (Port Trust) – Gandhidham – Gujarat
Haldia Dock Complex – Kolkata – West Bengal
New Tuticorin Port Trust – Tuticorin – Tamil Nadu
Mormugao Port – South Goa – Goa
Port Blair – Port Blair – Andaman & Nicobar Island
Mumbai - Navi Mumbai- Maharashtra
Located on the southeast coast of India, Mumbai is one of the important seaport in India and the most visited and busiest seaports. In fact, it handles more number ships as compared to all other Indian ports. It also happens to be the largest seaport in terms of cargo handling. Mormugao Port Trust controls all activities carried out by JNPT ( Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust ) which is located near Navi Mumbai.
Kolkata – Kolkata – West Bengal
Located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, it is one of India’s busiest and important seaports in India and the most preferred point for oceangoing vessels. Kolkata Port has facilities for cargo handling, shipbuilding and repair, timber processing, and fish farming. The port also houses a specialised berthing structure for the largest vessel which is capable of berthing at any tide state.
Chennai – Chennai – Tamil Nadu
It is also known as Gateway of South India. It lies on the southeast coast and is one of the world’s largest ports and an important seaport in India, transporting 100 million tons of cargo a year. It covers an area of around 4500 acres with 11 berths. It has 3 railway lines converging into it, making it one of the busiest junctions for railway traffic. It was declared as the ninth busiest port in 2010 by a London-based marine research firm and the world’s seventh most efficient port by Hong Kong-based Centre for Asia Pacific Maritime Transport (C-Pamt). Over 70 percent of shipping companies do their business here. Mumbai: Also called Marine Capital, it handles more than 60 percent of coastal traffic and 10 percent country’s overall cargo.
Kochi – Cochin – Kerala
It is an island city and commercial capital of Kerala, Kochi is well connected with other major ports by sea due to this it is considered as one of the important seaport in India. It was once a major international port, but now all its importance has shifted to the nearby deepwater container transshipment facility of Vallarpadam and the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT). The Island is still home to some fishing and manufacturing activity. Can you name any popular monuments there? Not many would know that Ernakulam Boat Jetty is one of Asia’s largest river jetty.
Visakhapatnam (Vizag) – Visakhapatnam – Andhra Pradesh
This is one of India’s prime seaports and also one of the biggest ports. It was constructed under a special project, taken up by Jawaharlal Nehru, called ‘the Vizag Project’. At its inauguration in 1953, it was declared as one of Asia’s biggest port complexes. Visakhapatnam lies at a distance of 170 Km from Chennai and 320 Km from Hyderabad due to this geographical location this port is considered as one of the important seaport in India. This port is strategically located on peninsular coastal area with an average depth 9 metres of water throughout its entire length.
Paradip – Jagatsin ghpur – Odisha
Port of Paradip is one of the major ports of India. It is located on the east coast of India and is ranked as one of the country’s largest ports by volume cargo handled. The port has facilities for loading and unloading petroleum, edible oils, coal, ore, and steel products. Also, it handles containers at a container terminal with a capacity to handle 6 lakh TEUs per annum. The port also handles liquid bulk like fertilizers for urea production unit operated by ONGC Fertilizers Limited (OFFL) near Paradeep. The Port has connectivity with the Bay of Bengal through the Gopalpur channel which enables large vessels to sail directly into it without trans-shipment at Cuttack, some 25 km away.
New Mangalore (NMPT) – Mangalore – Karnataka
New Mangalore port (NMPT) is one of the most important seaports in Karnataka. New Mangalore Port Trust was established on 4 January 1974, when it took over from Bombay and Baroda ports trust. It is an all-weather port with an annual traffic capacity of 50 million tonnes (including both coal and ore). New Mangalore Port ranks amongst the top 10 major ports of India, handling more than 70% of all exports from Karnataka and also serving as a gateway to Kerala by road, rail & air.
Kandla (Port Trust) – Gandhidham – Gujarat
Located in the Kutch district of Gujarat, Kandla is one of the major seaports of India. It is situated on the west coast and it provides access to international sea routes. In 2006, a 6-kilometer long breakwater was constructed to protect Kandla from dangerous conditions like cyclones and tsunami waves. In 2012, it became the third port in India after Mumbai Port Trust and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) for handling container traffic; currently, its capacity is around 1 million standard container units (SCU). We will also share some interesting facts about other ports as we want to provide you with maximum information.
Haldia Dock Complex – Kolkata – West Bengal
Located at Haldia, West Bengal, it is one of Asia’s largest docks with a large network of roads and railways. It is also equipped with three major railway lines all these facilities made this port an important seaport in India. This dock complex was built by Haldia Dock & Port Ltd (HDPL), a consortium of Tata Steel and SAIL. Apart from these two major companies, there are 30 others from various parts of the world involved in construction works at HDPL that including Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd., South Korea.
New Tuticorin Port Trust – Tuticorin – Tamil Nadu
It is a deep seaport contributing to develop ocean freight service in a better way, located on the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, at Kadaladi. It was established to facilitate the export of coal from Neyveli Lignite Corporation’s mines. The port also exports limestone and marble from nearby mines to countries such as China, Japan, and Korea. Tuticorin is a natural harbor that has been further improved by dredging to allow large ships access to its port and got placed in the list of Important sea port in India. It is one of several ports being developed by Kamarajar Port Ltd (KPL) – a joint venture between the Government of Tamil Nadu and Coal India Ltd – for faster handling of cargo for export, particularly coal from Indian Coalfields.
Mormugao Port – South Goa – Goa
The Mormugao Port was built by Sir Vasco da Gama in 1612. Its location lies in the South of Goa, which is more commonly known as Mormugao, a city in Goa. It is located around 30 km off the seashore and has a capacity to handle the largest vessels up to 150,000 DWT. This port handles import and export cargo of iron ore, soybean meal, and phosphate rock amongst others. The Mormugao Port was built by Sir Vasco da Gama in 1612. Its location lies in the South of Goa, which is more commonly known as Mormugao, a city in Goa.
Port Blair – Port Blair – Andaman & Nicobar Island
It is located on South Andaman Island, which is around 320 kilometers away from Port Blair. Till 1958, it was just a tiny village with a population of 1,500. After being declared as the capital city by Govt. of India for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it became an important seaport with lots of new infrastructure and office buildings being constructed. Today Port Blair has a population of more than 300,000.