In FY22, major ports in India handled 720.29 million tonnes of cargo traffic from 671.82 million tonnes cargo handled during April-March 2020-21, implying a CAGR of 2.89% in FY16-22. From April-January 2023, all key ports in India handled 646.10 million tonnes (MT) of cargo traffic. India’s key ports had a capacity of 1,598 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in FY22. From April-October 2022, all key ports in India handled 446.01 million tonnes (MT) of cargo traffic from 406.73 million tonnes cargo traffic handled during April-October, 2021-22. In FY22, all key ports in India handled 720.29 million tonnes (MT) of cargo traffic. India's merchandise exports in FY22 were at US$ 417.81 billion, up 43.18% from US$ 291.81 billion in the previous year.
Non-major ports accounted for 45% of the total cargo traffic at Indian ports in FY22, due to a significant shift of traffic from the major ports to the non-major ports.
The Government of India has allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of up to 100% under the automatic route for projects related to the construction and maintenance of ports and harbours. Indian ports received cumulative FDI inflow worth US$ 1.63 billion between April 2000-March 2022. A 10-year tax holiday is extended to enterprises engaged in the business of developing, maintaining, and operating ports, inland waterways, and inland ports. The Government has also initiated National Maritime Development Programme (NMDP), an initiative to develop the maritime sector with a planned outlay of US$ 11.8 billion. In Union Budget 2023-24, the total allocation for the Ministry of Shipping was US$ 1,813.16 million (Rs. 2,218.74 crore). There are 46 Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects at an estimated value of US$ 4.49 billion at major ports. The key ports are expected to deliver seven projects worth more than US$ 274.31 million (Rs. 2,000 crore) on a public-private partnership basis in FY22.
Minister for Finance, and Corporate Affairs Ms. Nirmala Sitaraman, proposed to double the ship recycling capacity of ~4.5 million light displacement tonnes (LDT) by 2024; this is expected to generate an additional ~1.5 lakh employment opportunities in India.
As per studies conducted under the Sagarmala Programme, cargo traffic at ports is expected to be ~2,500 MMTPA by 2025, while the current cargo handling capacity of ports is only 2,406 MMTPA. A roadmap has been prepared for increasing the Indian port capacity to 3,300+ MMTPA by 2025 to cater to the growing traffic. This includes port operational efficiency improvement, capacity expansion of existing ports and new port development. There are 206 port modernization projects worth US$ 10.71 billion (Rs. 78,611 crore). Of which, 81 projects worth US$ 3.29 billion (Rs. 24,113 crore) have been completed and 59 projects worth US$ 3.31 billion (Rs. 24,288 crore) are being implemented.
The Indian government announced that seven major ports worth US$ 274 million will commence operations under the public-private partnership model in 2021-22. Private sector investments in ports have steadily increased over the last five years, touching an all-time high of US$ 2.35 billion by 2020.
Between April-August 2021, cargo handled at India's 12 state-owned major ports recorded an increase of 19.54% from 245.289 mt the previous year to 293.226 million tonnes (mt).
APSEZ (Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone) plans to become the world's largest private port company by 2030 and carbon neutral by 2025.
In October 2022, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the development of a container terminal at Tuna-Tekra, Deendayal Port, the terminal will be built on a Build, Operate & Transfer (BOT) basis under Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode.
In November 2021, the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways & Ayush, Mr. Sarbananda Sonowal, inaugurated the new Radars and Vessel Traffic Management System of Cochin Port Trust. The VTMS (Vessel Traffic Management System) commissioned in Cochin Port in 2009 has been upgraded with a state-of-the-art system consisting of two new radars, one AIS Base station, three VHF Radios and associated software & hardware installed at a cost of Rs. 5.8 crore (US$ 772,161.66).
In June 2021, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Ministry of Civil Aviation signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop sea plane services in India.
In July 2021, the Marine Aids to Navigation Bill 2021 was passed by the Parliament, incorporating global best practices, technological developments, and India's international obligations in this field.
In July 2021, the Gujarat government provided an approval to build a new jetty worth ~Rs. 192 crore (US$ 25.77 million) at Navlakhi Port, which has been operating since 1939.
In November 2020, the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi renamed the Ministry of Shipping as the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
In October 2020, the Ministry of Shipping announced plans to develop a National Logistics Portal (Marine) with end-to-end logistics solutions to help exporters, importers, and service providers.
In August 2020, the government announced its plan to invest Rs. 10,000 crore (US$ 1.4 billion) to build transhipment port at the Great Nicobar Island in the Bay of Bengal to provide shippers an alternative port in the region. The transhipment port will enable big ships to anchor and raise India's share in maritime trade due to its proximity to the East-West international shipping route.
