Major Seaports In India
India, the subcontinent, forms one of the biggest peninsulas in the world with a shoreline of more than 7,500 km around it. The country has 13 major seaports and about 200 non-major seaports and intermediate ports.
The following states have the major seaports - Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Daman and Diu, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Goa.
The Shipping Ministry of the Central Government administers the major ports, while the minor ports are taken care off by the Ministry of the respective States where they are located. Some of the major seaports in India are mentioned below:
Mumbai Port
Locate at the mainland of west Mumbai, it is one of the oldest modern ports of India. About one-fifth of the foreign trade of India predominantly in mineral oil and dry cargo is handled by Mumbai Port alone.
Kandla Port
Located in the Gulf of Kutch, it is one of the prominent ports on the West Coast of the country. The 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 import.
Chennai Port
It is the largest port in the Bay of Bengal and second largest port of India after JNPT. Chennai Port (or Madras Port) primarily handles fertilizers, general cargo, iron-ore and petroleum products. It is the largest port at the east coast.
Jawaharlal Nehru Port (or Nhava Sheva Port)
Situated in the Konkan region, it is a major port of the Arabian Sea and handles large volume of domestic cargo traffic and international container traffic. It is also known as Nhava Sheva and is the largest container port in India, located on east coast.
Haldia Port
A major seaport located near the Hooghly River in West Bengal, it is the most important centre of jute industries. It is also known as the 'Gateway of Eastern India'.
Ennore Port
Located at the north of Chennai, this port was established to reduce congestion on Chennai Port. This port is now named as Kamarajar Port Limited. It is the first corporate port of India and is registered as a public company with 68% stake held by the government.
Kochi Port (or Cochin Port)
Kochi Port is located on the sea route of the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. Export of tea and coffee and import of chemical fertilisers and mineral oil are handled by the port. The port is called a natural gateway to the vast industrial and agricultural produce markets of South-West India.
Paradip Port
Located at the confluence of river Mahanadi in Bay of Bengal in Odisha, it was the first major port on East Coast commissioned in independent India. The artificial deep-water port located in Odisha is an important port on the eastern shore. Coal, iron-ore and other dry cargoes are handled at the port. It has a cold handling plant, a railway system and a national highway that connects it to the road networks of the rest of the country.
Tuticorin Port
Tuticorin Port is one of the major ports in Tamil Nadu and one of the largest container terminals in India. The port handles the trade of coal, food grains, salt, sugar, petroleum products and edible oils and carries out major trade with the neighbouring country of Sri Lanka. Tuticorin is the only port in South India to provide a direct weekly container service to the United States.
New Mangalore Port
Located at the southern tip of the Karnataka coast, it is also an important port in India. The port exports commodities such as granite stones, cashew, manganese and coffee and imports products like LPG, timber, cargo container and others.
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