Major Sea Ports of India
India has 13 major sea ports that handle a large volume of traffic. These ports are located in the nine coastal Indian states Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. There are total 13 major sea ports of India, out of them 12 are government and one, Ennore port of Chennai is the corporate one. Ennore Port is one of the major port of India located at Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu state along with private Krishnapatnam Port. The Ports owned by the Indian government are Chennai Port, Cochin Port, Jawahar Lal Nehru Port, Kamarajar Port, Kandla Port, Kolkata and Haldia Port, Mormugao Port, Mumbai Port, New Mangalore Port, Paradip Port, V.O Chidambaranar Port and Vishakhapatnam Port.
List of Major Sea Ports of India
| Name of the Port | Location | Trivia |
| Chennai Port or Madras Port | Chennai, Madras | Second largest container port of India. It is the third oldest port in India that started its operations in 1881. It is due to the existence of the port that the city of Chennai eventually became known as the Gateway of South India. The port is surrounded by both historic and modern lighthouses giving it a beautifying look. |
| Haldia (Kolkata Dock System & Haldia Dock Complex) | Kolkata | It is the oldest operating port in India. It was constructed by the British East India Company. It exports Jute products, tea, coal, steel, iron ore, copper, leather etc and imports are mainly that of machinery, crude oil, paper, fertilisers and chemical products. |
| Jawaharlal Nehru Port, also known as Nhava Sheva | Maharashtra, South Mumbai | Located east of Mumbai in Maharashtra. The name Nhava Sheva is derived from the names of two villages that used to exist in that area. The port on the Arabian Sea is accessed via Thane Creek. This port is also the terminal of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor proposed by Indian Railways. The major exports from Jawaharlal Nehru Port are textiles, sporting goods, carpets, textile machinery, boneless meat, chemicals pharmaceuticals and imports are chemicals, machinery, plastics, electrical machinery, vegetable oils and aluminium and other non-ferrous metals. |
| Kamarajar Port/ Ennore Port | Ennore, Chennai | It is located on the Coromandel Coast about 24 km north of Chennai Port, Chennai. It is the 12th major port of India. Apart from coal it also deals with the trade of iron ore, petroleum products and chemicals. And the first port in India which is a public company. |
| Kandla Port | Gujarat, Gulf of Kutch | It is the busiest and the richest port in India. It is a seaport in Kutch District of Gujarat state in western India, near the city of Gandhidham. Located on the Gulf of Kutch, it is one of the major ports on the west coast. Kandla was constructed in the 1950s as the chief seaport serving western India after the partition of India from Pakistan left the port of Karachi in Pakistan. |
| Kochi Port or Cochin Port | Kochi, Kerala | It is a major port on the Laccadive Sea – Indian Ocean sea-route. It is one of the largest ports in India. The port lies on two islands in the Lake of Kochi: Willingdon Island and Vallarpadam, towards the Fort Kochi river mouth opening onto the Laccadive Sea. The International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT), part of the Cochin Port, is the largest container transhipment facility in India. Its export mainly consists of tea, coffee and spices while its exports consist of mineral oil and chemical fertilisers. It is also a centre for shipbuilding. |
| New Mangalore Port | Manglore, Karnataka | It is a deep-water, all-weather port at Panambur, Mangalore in Karnataka state in India It is also the deepest inner harbour on the west coast. It is the only major port of Karnataka and is currently the seventh largest port in India. |
| Mormugao Port | Panaji, Goa | It was awarded the status of a major port in 1963 and are the leading iron ore exporters of India exporting a total of 50.02 million tonnes of iron ore every year. Four new harbours are being made in the Vasco Bay to handle container traffic and cargo. |
| Mumbai Port | West Mumbai, Maharashtra | Mumbai Port has three enclosed wet docks:Prince’s Dock Victoria Dock Indira Dock Prince’s Dock and Victoria Dock are semi-tidal docks, with vessels docking and departing at high tide. Indira Dock has a lock, enabling vessels to enter or depart at any time. Jawahar Dweep is an island in the harbour, for handling Crude and petroleum products. |
| Port Blair Port | Andaman & Nicobar islands | It is the youngest sea port in India. The port connected to the main land of India through ship and flight. This port is situated in between two international shipping lines namely Saudi Arabia & US Singapore. |
| Paradip | Jagatsinghpur, Odisha | It is an artificial, deep-water port on the East coast of India in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. It is situated at the confluence of the Mahanadi river and the Bay of Bengal. This port mainly deals with iron-ore and coal. Iron-ore is exported to Japan in huge quantities. This port even has its own railway system to make transport easy. |
| Tuticorin Port (now called V.O.Chidambaram Port) | Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu | It is a second-largest port in Tamil Nadu and fourth-largest container terminal in India. After Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project V.O.C Port will be India’s premier port and one of the major ports of Asia equal to Port of Singapore. V.O.Chidambaram Port is an artificial port. The port mainly trades with Sri Lanka and is properly connected by railways and roads. It is also the second largest port in Tamil Nadu. It is best for pearl fishery in the Bay of Bengal and is also known as the pearl city. It mainly deals with the trade of coal, salt, food grains, edible oil, sugar, and petroleum products. |
| Visakhapatnam Port | Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh | It is India’s second largest port by volume of cargo handled. The Visakhapatnam port has three main harbours: the outer harbour, the inner harbour and the fishing harbour. It is located on the east coast of India and is located midway between the Chennai and Kolkata Ports. The port deals with the trade of iron ore, pellets, coal, Alumina and oil. |
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