When we talk about the Indian peninsula, the nation surely has more than what meets your eye. It is surrounded by water on three sides, which deems for 7,516.6 km long coastline. Encapsulated by the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal, the wide assortment of Indian coastlines and ports is quite abounding. However, while the populace does have the imprecise knowledge of that, not all are well acquainted with India’s prominent and busiest ports.
India is one of the world’s most stable and thriving economies and contributes an indispensable portion to the global supply chain with vast potential.
It is a flourishing center for worldwide import and export scopes. Since it is among the most comprehensive peninsulas across the globe, India depends on sea conveyance to transmit international trade preponderance. The nine coastal states of India, which include Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala, and Odisha are encompassed by the Indian Ocean in South, the Arabian Sea in West, and the Bay of Bengal in East.
As a matter of fact, there are several ports that many didn’t even know did exist. Nevertheless, in this article, we covered some of the major and busiest ports in India. Thus, today’s article navigates through 4 of the busiest ports to help improve your knowledge on the various seaports and then make use of these ports for shipping or planning vacations.
Visiting these busiest ports in India will make your business or travel experience rewarding, as this is where you will get to observe both- the business hustle and bustle as well as the aspect of tourism. Let’s now deep-dive into the four busiest ports in India that you must know as a shipper.
1. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Maharashtra – The Bustling Sea Port One
2. Mumbai Sea Port, Maharashtra – The Largest Sea Port in India
3. Chennai Sea Port, Tamil Nadu – The Third Oldest In India
4. Paradip Sea Port, Odisha– The Famous Sea Port in the East
Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Maharashtra
This seaport in India is distinguished as the most bustling port in India and bears an annual cargo volume of around 64 million tons. Moreover, it is noteworthy that this port is the only Indian seaport introduced amongst the top 30 list of seaports worldwide. Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust is located in the east of Mumbai, on a Nhava Sheva island. Did you know that this island was named after India’s first Prime Minister? Henceforth, this seaport is also commonly known as the Nhava Sheva Port. The JNPT seaport is remarkably well mechanized and operates freighting by making use of high-end technology. The chief purpose of this seaport is to surmount the Mumbai sea port’s challenges seamlessly. Additionally, JNPT is now liable for nearly 55% of India’s container traffic.
Mumbai (Bombay) Sea Port, Maharashtra
Mumbai Sea Port, also renowned as the largest seaport in India, is a deep-water port that wields nearly 20% of India’s international business. This seaport is the largest in India by size and traffic, having close to 61 million tons of yearly cargo volume. It is established on a spectacular located-harbor, which is 10-12m deep, where big ships can promptly and efficiently enter and leave. It exclusively specializes in mineral oil imported from Gulf countries and dry cargo. Also, it exports out cotton, tobacco, textile, manganese, and machinery. The seaport also imports crude oil, machinery, raw cotton, among others. The Mumbai seaport is crucial for India’s prosperity and trade operations.
Chennai Sea Port, Tamil Nadu
This seaport in India holds the second position as one of the busiest ports in India, with about 1.5 million tons of annual traffic. This renowned port was founded in 1881 and is the third oldest seaport in India, situated at the Coromandel Coast in the Bay of Bengal. Chennai seaport serves as the central port of Tamil Nadu. This seaport once had India’s chief container terminal. Nevertheless, it got denationalized later from governmental authority to private authority. It confers to the local economy and also is a tourist hub around the year for the famous lighthouses surrounding the seaport.
Paradip Sea Port, Odisha
Paradip seaport is another busiest cargo port and the renowned port of the east. It has an annual volume of around 75.7 million tons. This seaport in India is a unique, deep-water port established on the east coast of India, located in the Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. Paradip seaport has a human-made harbor, which makes it befitting for altering climatic changes. The depth of its bottom enables it to have a cargo space of nearly 60,000 DWT. Moreover, Paradip seaport had been recently revamped and expanded to cater to various petroleum products of around 8 million tons.