Snapshot
Sailing towards Success
India is strategically located on the world’s shipping routes with a coastline of approximately 7,517 km. Maritime transport handles around 70% of India’s trading in value terms. As of 2021, India owns over 30% global market share in the ship breaking industry and is home to the largest ship-breaking facility in the world at Alang. To promote India's shipping and port industry, the government has also introduced various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for enterprises that develop, maintain and operate ports, inland waterways and shipbuilding in India.
The Maritime India Vision 2030 has identified over 150 initiatives to boost the Indian maritime sector. The Vision 2030 was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India in March 2021. It is drafted after significant consultation with over 350 public and private stakeholders comprising of ports, shipyards, inland waterways, trade bodies and associations, and legal experts. The vision serves as a blueprint to achieve an accelerated and coordinated development of India’s diverse maritime sector, comprehensively identifying over 150 initiatives covering all facets of the country’s maritime sector.
In 2017, the government launched the ambitious Sagar Mala Program with the vision of port-led development and growth of logistics-intensive industries. Under the program, $123 Bn would be invested across 415 projects across the following identified components:
- Port Modernization and New Port Development
- Port Connectivity Enhancement
- Port-Linked Industrialization
- Coastal Community Development
Both Sagar Mala and Maritime India Vision focus on unlocking additional potential such as annual revenue of INR 20,000 Cr. (US$2.7 Bn) from extant assets and generating employment, targeting 2 million direct and indirect jobs by 2030.
100% FDI allowed under both government and automatic route.
For further details, please refer FDI Policy
- MT
Cargo traffic at major ports in 2020-21 (for both major and minor ports)
- %
Cargo traffic growth reduction in Average Turnaround Time in last 10 yrs
Indian fleet strength (no. of vessels - coastal & overseas as on Apr 2020)
- MTPA
Port capacity (both major & minor ports)
Coastal shipping traffic grows from 74.9 MMTA in 2014 to 133 MMTPA in 2022
Seaborne trade in India has grown at twice the global growth rate of 3.3%
16th largest maritime country in the world
- Industry Scenario
- FOREIGN INVESTMENT
- INDUSTRY TRENDS
- POLICIES & SCHEMES
Industry Scenario
Cargo Traffic on the rise
India has 12 major and 200 non-major/intermediate ports (under state government administration). Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust is the largest major port in India, while Mudra is the largest private port. Jawaharlal Nehru Port becomes first 100% Landlord Major Port. Moreover, India is one of the world's top 5 ship recycling countries and holds 30% share in the global ship recycling market. Approximately 95% of the country’s trade by volume and 68% by value is moved through Maritime Transport.
The overall installed capacity of the major ports in India has increased over 76% to reach 1,561 MTPA in Mar 2021, vis-a-vis 872 MTPA in March 2014. Moreover, the total traffic handled by these major ports has reached to 672 MT during 2020-21. During the same time, non-major ports in India handled a total cargo throughput of around 580 MT, taking the total cargo handled by all Indian ports to over 1,250 MT.
Vision 2047: Port handling capacity to be raised by 4X By Financial Year 2020-21, 802 projects worth ~$70 Bn (INR 5.6 Lakh Cr.) are for implementation under the Sagar Mala Program. Of these, 185 projects worth ~$12 Bn (INR 95,000 Cr.) are completed and 211 projects worth ~$26 Bn (INR 2.1 Lakh Cr.) are under implementation and 406 projects worth ~$30 Bn (INR 2.5 Lakh Cr.) are under various stages of development.
Under public-private partnerships (PPP), there are 58 projects worth ~
nbsp;5 Bn (INR 40,000 Cr.) under various stages of implementation. Of these, 33 projects of ~ $3.4 Bn (Rs. 27,000 Cr.) are operational whereas 25 projects for over $1.6 Bn (INR13,000 Cr.) are under implementation. 19 such projects with total investment of ~$1.1 Bn (INR 8,862 Cr.) have been completed in 2021 alone.Share in traffic for major commodities (2021)
- POL: 30.7%
- Container: 21.4%
- Thermal coal: 18.8%
- Iron ore: 9.6%
- Others: 19.5%
GROWTH DRIVERS
National waterways
Development of existing & 106 notified waterways
Sagarmala initiative
567 projects identified under Sagarmala Programme for Holistic Development of Coastal Districts with an estimated cost of INR 59,000 Cr
Container Manufacturing
Bhavnagar in Gujarat is being developed as a container manufacturing hub
Cruise shipping
Cruise shipping potential expected to grow
Specialist terminal based ports
Cargo like LNG with specific equipment & high capital costs
Rising trade
Increased trade & private participation in port infra development
Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan - Self Reliant India
Special economic and comprehensive package of INR 20 lakh Cr towards promoting manufacturing in India.

