Major Ports of India: All 12 Major Ports and Mundra

Four ports carry four different titles. Candidates swap them. UPSC knows this and builds questions on it.

1.1 What does the 2023 question ask?

UPSC CSP 2023, GS Paper I, asked about three port pairs. Kamarajar was “first major port in India registered as a company”. Mundra was “largest privately owned port in India”. Visakhapatnam was “largest container port in India”.

The first two pairs are right. The third is wrong. So the answer is “only two pairs”, option (b).

1.2 Why is each title a trap?

Each title names one thing. “Largest” may mean cargo tonnes or containers. “Private” is not the same as “company”. Keep each title with its own port.

2.1 Why 12 and also 14?

India has 14 notified major ports. Twelve are in operation. Two more are not yet working. About 200 non-major ports sit beside them.

The Ministry of Ports controls the major ports. State maritime boards or state governments control the non-major ports.

2.2 Who are the twelve?

The twelve working ports are Chennai, Cochin, Deendayal, Jawaharlal Nehru, Kamarajar, Mormugao, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Paradip, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, V.O. Chidambaranar and Visakhapatnam.

2.3 What is special about Kolkata?

Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port stands on the Hugli river at Kolkata. The government calls it the first major port and the only riverine one. NCERT says it lies 128 km inland from the Bay of Bengal.

A port trust took charge of it on 17 October 1870. The Cabinet renamed it from Kolkata Port Trust on 3 June 2020.

Silt in the Hugli is its old problem. Haldia port, 105 km downstream, was built to ease the crowding at Kolkata. It handles bulk cargo such as coal, iron ore and petroleum.

2.4 Why is Chennai called artificial?

Chennai has no natural bay to shelter ships. So engineers made the harbour by hand. NCERT calls it an artificial harbour.

NCERT also calls it one of the oldest ports on the east coast. Its shallow waters do not suit very large ships.

Two newer ports were built to share its load. Kamarajar lies about 25 km to the north. V.O. Chidambaranar was also developed to relieve Chennai.

2.5 Why is Mumbai a natural harbour?

Mumbai has a deep, sheltered bay, so nobody had to build the harbour. NCERT calls it a natural harbour and “the biggest port of the country”. By cargo today, Mundra is larger.

NCERT describes the harbour as 20 km long and 6 to 10 km wide. It has 54 berths and the country’s largest oil terminal.

Mumbai Port was set up in 1873, when the Bombay Port Trust began. Jawaharlal Nehru Port was later built to relieve it.

2.6 What do Mormugao and New Mangalore export?

Both ports are known for iron ore exports. Mormugao sits at the mouth of the Zuari river in Goa. NCERT calls it a natural harbour.

It grew important after a 1961 remodelling, which let it export iron ore to Japan. The Konkan Railway later widened its reach.

New Mangalore is in Karnataka. NCERT says it exports iron ore and iron concentrates. It also handles fertilisers and petroleum products.

The port was declared a major port on 4 May 1974. Its formal opening came on 11 January 1975.

2.7 What makes Cochin different?

Cochin is a major port in Kerala. NCERT says it lies at the head of Vembanad Lake, called the “Queen of the Arabian Sea”. It is a natural harbour.

The port sits close to the Suez-Colombo shipping route. Part of it is on Willingdon Island, which is man-made.

The Vallarpadam container terminal opened its first part on 11 February 2011. It is India’s first transshipment terminal in a special economic zone.

3.1 Why is it called corporatised?

Eleven major ports are governed by the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021. Kamarajar is the exception. It is a company under the Companies Act.

The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chennai Port Authority. So the government still owns it. Corporatised does not mean private.

3.2 Why was Kamarajar built?

Kamarajar was once called Ennore Port. NCERT says it lies about 25 km north of Chennai. Other sources give 18 km. Both agree it is north of Chennai.

It was built to relieve pressure on Chennai port. It is an artificial port.

4.1 Why is Mundra called private?

Mundra is run by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited. Adani’s annual report calls it India’s largest commercial port. It is a private port, not a major port.

Mundra handled 200.7 million tonnes in FY 2024-25. That was 11.5% more than the year before. It was the first Indian port to pass 200 million tonnes.

4.2 Which port leads in containers?

JNPA, at Nhava Sheva near Mumbai, handled 7,301,509 containers in FY 2024-25. These are counted in TEUs, which means twenty-foot equivalent units. That was 13.55% more than the year before.

NCERT calls Jawaharlal Nehru Port the largest container port in India. It was built as a satellite port to relieve Mumbai. Visakhapatnam does not hold this title.

4.3 Which major port moves the most cargo?

Paradip handled 150.41 million tonnes in FY 2024-25. It is India’s top major port by cargo. It also led all ports on the east coast, major and non-major.

Visakhapatnam used to be called the largest east-coast port. Paradip now holds that place. Quote the year when you use cargo rankings.

5.1 Why is Kandla a tidal port?

Deendayal Port is the old Kandla Port, in Kutch, Gujarat. It opened in 1952. India built it as the chief seaport of the west after Independence.

Its channel depth depends on the tide, so it is a tidal port. NCERT says it was developed to reduce pressure on Mumbai port.

5.2 What does Vadinar do?

Vadinar is an offshore oil terminal on the Gulf of Kutch. It has single-buoy moorings of Deendayal Port. NCERT says it was developed to reduce pressure at Kandla.

So Vadinar supports Kandla. It does not replace it.

5.3 Why is Tuticorin artificial?

V.O. Chidambaranar Port is at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. It is an artificial deep-sea harbour. Two long breakwaters of rubble reach up to 4 km into the sea. It became a major port on 11 July 1974.

NCERT says it was developed to relieve pressure on Chennai.

5.4 What about Paradip and JNPA?

Paradip is a deep-water port in Odisha. Its draft is 16 m. So “shallow water” is wrong. JNPA is a coastal port in Navi Mumbai. So “landlocked” is wrong.

6.1 When did it start?

Sagarmala is the Ministry of Ports programme for port-led development. The Union Cabinet approved it on 25 March 2015. The programme was set up in July 2015.

Its aim is to promote port-led development along India’s coast.

7.1 Which pairs get mixed up?

Keep the five titles apart:

• Mundra is the largest private port.
• Kamarajar is the only corporatised major port.
• JNPA leads major ports in containers.
• Paradip leads major ports in cargo.
• Deendayal is tidal, and Tuticorin is artificial.