Major Ports of India
There are 13 major and 185 minor seaports located in the 5,600 km long coast line of the mainland of the country. The major ports are controlled by the Central Government while the medium and minor ports are included in the concurrent list of the constitution and are managed and administered by the respective states.
The major ports located on the eastern coast are Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Ennore (Tamil Nadu), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Paradip (Odisha), Haldia & Kolkata (West Bengal), and Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar Island). while the maior ports located on the western coast are Kandla Port (Gujarat), Mumbai (Maharashtra), Navasheva (Jawaharlal Nehru Port), Murmagoa, New Mangalore (Karnataka), and Kochi (Kerala).
1. Kolkata Port : Only riverine port in India. Known for twin dock systems viz., Kolkata Dock System (KDS) on the eastern bank and Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) on the wester bank of river Hooghly.
2. Paradip Port : Located at confluence of river Mahanadi in Bay of Bengal in Odisha. It was the first major port on East Coast commissioned in independent India.
3. New Mangalore Port : Located at a site called Panambur in Karnataka at Gurupura river confluence with Arabian Sea.
4. Cochin Port : Located on the Willingdon Island on the south west coast of India. Located on the cross roads of the east-west Ocean trade. The port is called natural gateway to the vast industrial and agricultural produce markets of the south west India.
5. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (Nhava Sheva) : It is also known as Nhava Sheva and is the largest container port in India, handling around half of containers of all major ports. It is located on eastern shore of Mumbai harbour off Elephanta Island and is accessed via Thane creek.
6. Mumbai Port : One of the oldest modern ports of India. It is the largest and most important seaport along the western coast of India.
7. Kandla Port : Kandla port was built after partition as the Karachi port on western coast had gone to Pakistan. It is known for handling much of the crude oil imports of India.
8. Vishakhapatnam Port : Vizag port is located in Andhra Pradesh and is known for bulk of Cargo handling on east coast.
9. Chennai Port : Chennai Port is the largest port in the Bay of Bengal and second largest port of India after JNPT. It is largest port at east coast.
10, Tuticorin Port : This port has been now renamed as V. O. Chidambaranar Port. It is located in the Gulf of Mannar. Tuticorin is the only port in South India to provide a direct weekly container service to the United States.
11. Ennore Port : This port is now named as Kamarajar Port Limited. It is first corporate port of India and is registered as a public company with 68% stake held by government.
12. Marmagao Port : Marmagao port in Goa is leading iron ore exporting port of India.
13. Port Blair : It is the 13th and youngest major port of India declared in 2010. The port is of strategic importance to India as it is closer to two international shipping lines viz. Saudi Arabia-Singapore and U.S-Singapore.
Two New Ports : The government has decided to set up two new major ports, one at Sagar in West Bengal and other at Dugarajapatnam in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. The date of completion of the Phase-I of the project at Dugarajapatnam is 2018 and for Sagar 2019-2020.
These ports are managed by the Port Trust of India under the Major Port Trust Agreement.
