Ports and Waterways – UPSC

• Water transport is the cheapest and the oldest mode of transport. It moves on a natural track, so that, canals apart, a route needs little capital to build or maintain.
• It has drawn distant parts of the world closer and is indispensable to foreign trade: about 95% of India’s trade by volume and 70% by value moves by sea (2026).
• It has two branches: inland water transport on rivers, canals, lakes and backwaters, and ocean transport, both coastal and overseas.
• Rivers carried most of India’s freight before the railways came. Water then lost ground because it could not match the speed of road and rail, and it is now being revived as those networks fill up.

Water Transport in India

Advantages of Water Transport

• Cheapest means of transport:
  • Rivers are a natural highway, with no cost of building or upkeep.
  • Canals cost much less to build and maintain when they also serve irrigation and other uses.
  • The cost of operating inland water transport is very low, so it is the cheapest way to move goods from one place to another.
  • Starting costs are high, for ships, boats, ports and harbours, but running costs are the lowest of any mode. Road is cheapest over short distances, rail over longer ones, and water over the longest hauls.
• Least consumption of energy: waterways are fuel-efficient and environment-friendly.
  • One horsepower moves about 4,000 kg on water, against 150 kg by road and 500 kg by rail.
• Suitable for heavy, bulky goods: a waterway carries much larger quantities of low-value freight such as coal and timber.
• Low friction: boats and steamers meet far less resistance than wheels on road or rail, above all when they move with the current.
• Eco-friendly: boats and steamers, even when mechanised, burn much less fuel and pollute their surroundings less.
• Employment: the sector has a large capacity to create jobs, in operating boats, in boat-building and in fishing.

Limitations of Inland Waterways in India

• Monsoon torrents: heavy rain makes the current so strong that boats are hard to ply.
• Dry-season flow: in winter and summer most rivers run low, with too little water even for irrigation, and navigation stops.
  • Even perennial rivers such as the Ganga and the Brahmaputra lose much of their discharge in these months.
• Rocky south Indian rivers: the rivers of the south flow over rocky beds and waterfalls, and most are seasonal, which leaves them unfit for boats beyond their deltas.
• Speed: railways are quicker and more reliable than boats.
• Shallow, sandy deltas: Indian rivers reach the sea through shallow deltas, so ships cannot sail from the coast far inland.
• Other physical and economic limits:
  • Regular flow of adequate water is the first requirement, and many channels lack it.
  • Cataracts and sharp bends break the route.
  • Silting reduces depth, and dredging it away is costly.
  • Diversion of water for irrigation lowers the level in the channel and makes navigation harder, leaving the waterway less competitive.
  • Traffic must be large enough to pay for the route, and shippers often prefer faster modes.

Role of Inland Water Transport in Regional Development

• River transport can contribute much to a region’s growth. It is the cheapest mode, and little money goes on upkeep beyond ports, jetties and canals.
• Before colonial rule, inland water transport played a major part in the growth of trade and the regional development of north India. Today it can also lower production costs for industry.
• Deltas: in tracts such as the Ganga delta, roads and bridges across numerous distributaries are difficult and costly. A river route is the better mode and helps the economy of the region.
  • Jute is the classic case. Most jute mills stand along the Hooghly, and water and road compete for this traffic across the Ganga–Brahmaputra delta.
• Keralam (Kerala): lagoons, lakes and backwaters joined by canals offer inland transport that competes directly with road.
• Rural water transport (RWT) is a sub-sector of inland water transport (IWT) with special value in reducing isolation and poverty.
  • It consists mostly of small family-owned boats on rivers and canal networks.
  • These give a transport service and employment, support fishing, and create further work in boat-making.
• Complement to land transport: waterways can relieve road and rail of heavy, low-value freight. This role of river transport is now strongest on the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Barak.

Types of Waterways

Inland Waterways

• Inland water transport runs on rivers, canals and lakes. An inland waterway is a network of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks that can be used instead of, or in addition to, roads and rails.
• It is the cheapest mode, yet it faces stiff competition from roadways and railways.

• The older counts differ with what they include, so the river and canal lines above each carry two figures.
• Regulation: the Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985 set up the Authority that develops and regulates waterways with potential for shipping and navigation. It works on national waterways, which Parliament declares by law. Other canals remain with the States.
• Navigable rivers beyond the national list:
  • The Ganga carries mechanised boats up to Patna and ordinary boats up to Haridwar.
  • The Brahmaputra takes steamers up to Dibrugarh, a route of 1,384 km shared with Bangladesh.
  • The Godavari is navigable for about 300 km from its mouth and the Krishna for about 60 km.
  • The deltas of the Godavari, Krishna and Mahanadi, the lower Narmada and Tapi, the backwaters of Keralam, and the Mandovi and Zuari of Goa also serve as waterways.
• Navigable canals: the Buckingham Canal runs parallel to the east coast, and about 413 km of it, from Guntur to South Arcot, has long carried water transport.
  • Others: Kurnool–Cuddapah (116.8 km), Son (326 km), Odisha (272 km), Medinipur (459.2 km) and Damodar (136 km).
  • Local boats also use some irrigation canals in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

Ocean Transport

• Ocean transport is indispensable for foreign trade. It has knitted the nations of the world into one big world market.
• It moves on a natural track, the sea, with no investment in building or maintaining the route.
• It includes coastal shipping and overseas shipping.
• History of Indian shipping:
  • Indian vessels sailed the Indian Ocean for some 4,000 years, carrying goods to the East Indies and the Middle East. The European companies then gave this trade a severe setback.
  • The need for a national fleet came home during the First World War, and the Scindia Steam Navigation Company was founded in 1919.
  • Independence found India with 59 ships of under 2 lakh tonnes gross.
  • On 31 January 2013 the fleet stood at 1,158 ships of 10.45 million gross tonnes. In 2025 it stood at 1,592 ships of 14.02 million gross tonnes, and 94 ships joined the flag during 2025-26.
• Coastal shipping moves goods and passengers between ports within the country, as distinct from overseas shipping and from offshore services to rigs and platforms.
  • It eases pressure on road and rail, pollutes little, needs less capital and creates many jobs. It also keeps the coast under watch and supports fisheries and tourism.
  • A study of the Mumbai–Goa route found sea freight nine times cheaper than road in fuel cost.
  • The peninsular shape allows the east and west coasts to work as two coastal zones, each sailing north and south. Many minor ports along them remain underused.
  • Major ports handled 213.45 million tonnes of coastal cargo in 2025-26, about 23% of their traffic. The Coastal Shipping Act, 2025 and Merchant Shipping Act, 2025 came into force on 15 March 2026.
• Sea routes: classical sailing distances from India run Mumbai–Colombo 890 nautical miles, Chennai–Kolkata 780, Colombo–Kolkata 1,220, Chennai–Yangon 1,020 and Chennai–Port Blair (Sri Vijaya Puram) 700.
• Choke-points: India’s overseas trade passes through narrow straits that it does not control.
  • Westward, crude and gas from West Asia come through the Strait of Hormuz, and trade with Europe uses the Bab-el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal, which has brought Mumbai closer to Europe since 1869.
  • Eastward, trade with East Asia passes the Strait of Malacca, close to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
  • In March 2026, during the West Asia crisis, six Indian-flagged LPG tankers were brought out from west of Hormuz, and ports were told to give LPG vessels priority berths.
  • These risks strengthen the case for a larger Indian fleet and for home transshipment ports such as Vizhinjam and the planned Galathea Bay.

National Waterways

• The National Waterways Act, 2016 came into effect on 12 April 2016. It kept the 5 existing national waterways, added 106 new ones to make 111, and replaced the 5 separate Acts that had declared the earlier waterways.
• The sixth waterway on the old list, the Barak, was then still a proposal. It is now National Waterway 16, and the number 6 has gone to the Aai river in Assam.
• By 2025-26, these national waterways were carrying 218 million tonnes of cargo.

• The 2016 Act took up the Narmada as NW-73.
• National Waterway 1 (NW-1):
  • It runs from Prayagraj (Allahabad) to Haldia, a distance of 1,620 km.
  • It follows the Ganga, Bhagirathi and Hooghly river system. Fixed terminals stand at Haldia, Farakka and Patna, and floating terminals at most riverside cities such as Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Varanasi and Prayagraj.
  • It was long counted as the longest national waterway. On the 2016 schedule, the extended NW-4 is longer.

• National Waterway 2 (NW-2):
  • A stretch of the Brahmaputra from Sadiya to Dhubri in Assam, 891 km long.
  • It is a major freight waterway of north-east India, ranked third-longest among the first five.

• National Waterway 3 (NW-3), the West Coast Canal:
  • It lies in Keralam, from Kollam to Kottapuram, and was India’s first waterway with round-the-clock navigation.
  • The 205 km route comprises the West Coast Canal, Champakara Canal and Udyogmandal Canal, passing Kottapuram, Cherthala, Alappuzha, Thrikkunnapuzha and Kollam.
  • The 2016 schedule adds 170 km from Kottapuram to Kozhikode.
• National Waterway 4 (NW-4):
  • It joins Kakinada to Puducherry (Pondicherry) through canals, the Kaluvelly Tank and stretches of the Godavari and Krishna.
  • At 1,095 km in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, it was the second-longest of the first five. The 2016 schedule extends it up both rivers, to about 2,890 km.

• National Waterway 5 (NW-5):
  • It connects Odisha to West Bengal through the Brahmani river, the East Coast Canal, the Matai river and the Mahanadi delta.
  • The 623 km system was planned to carry coal, fertiliser, cement and iron. The 2016 schedule gives its length as 588 km.

• NW-5 was declared in 2008.
• The Barak waterway (planned as NW-6, now NW-16):
  • In Assam, from Lakhipur to Bhanga on the Barak river, 121 km long.
  • It serves trade between Silchar and Mizoram.

• The waterway was declared in 2016 as NW-16.

Ocean Routes and Ports

Ports and Their Traffic

• India’s coastline was long given as about 7,517 km, and over 7,500 km in round terms. It was re-assessed in 2025 at 11,098.81 km.
• Number of ports: the long-standing count was 13 major and 200 minor ports, of which about 60 non-major ports were operational.
  • The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways now counts 12 operational major ports, with Vadhavan and Galathea Bay notified and under construction.
  • Over 200 non-major ports remain on the list, and 68 are counted as working non-major ports under 11 State maritime boards and port directorates.
• Share of trade: seaways carry 95% of India’s foreign trade by volume and 70% by value, a figure also given in older accounts as 90% by volume and 70% by value.
• Traffic: major ports once handled about 58% of cargo. Their share has come down as private ports grew:

• In 2025-26, major ports handled a record of about 915 million tonnes.
• Cargo mix at major ports: the older split was bulk 44% (iron ore, coal, fertiliser), liquid 33% (petroleum, oil and lubricants) and container 23%.
  • In 2025-26: petroleum products 29.77%, containers 23.29%, coal 21.03%, iron ore 5.47%, with the rest in fertilisers, foodgrains and other goods.
• Coasts: the older count of 7 major ports on the eastern coast and 6 on the western took Kolkata and Haldia separately. The 12 operational ports divide 6 and 6, and Vadhavan will make it 7 on the west.

The Major Ports

• The major ports differ in site, cargo and hinterland:
• Kolkata Port (Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port):
  • The only riverine major port in India.
  • Known for its twin dock systems: the Kolkata Dock System (KDS) on the eastern bank and the Haldia Dock Complex (HDC) on the western bank of the Hooghly.
• Paradip Port:
  • An artificial, deep-water port on the east coast in Jagatsinghpur district, Odisha, where the Mahanadi meets the Bay of Bengal.
  • The first major port on the east coast commissioned in independent India.
• New Mangalore Port:
  • At Panambur in Karnataka, where the Gurupura river meets the Arabian Sea.
• Cochin Port:
  • On Willingdon Island on the south-west coast, at the crossroads of east–west ocean trade.
  • It is called the natural gateway to the large farm and factory markets of south-west India.
• Jawaharlal Nehru Port:
  • Also known as Nhava Sheva, it is the largest container port among the major ports, with around half of their containers: 7.30 of 13.53 million TEU in 2024-25.
  • It lies on the eastern shore of Mumbai harbour, off Elephanta Island, and is reached through Thane Creek.
• Vadhavan Port:
  • Long described as the coming 13th major port, which would place India among the countries with a top-10 container port.
  • A special purpose vehicle (SPV) builds it, with Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) as lead partner. The plan called for at least 50% equity, and the Cabinet’s approval of 19 June 2024 set 74% for the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority and 26% for the Maharashtra Maritime Board.
  • It follows the landlord model, and was planned by JNPT as an “all weather, all cargo” satellite port for deep-draft ships and larger vessels.
• Mumbai Port:
  • One of the oldest modern ports of India. The site was first used by the navies of Shivaji.
• Kandla Port (Deendayal Port):
  • Built after Partition, because Karachi port on the western coast had gone to Pakistan.
  • It handles much of India’s crude oil imports.
• Visakhapatnam Port:
  • Vizag port in Andhra Pradesh is known for bulk cargo on the east coast.
• Chennai Port:
  • It has long been called the largest port on the Bay of Bengal and the east coast, and the second largest in India after JNPT.
  • By total cargo in 2025-26, Paradip now leads the east coast, with 156.45 million tonnes against Chennai’s 57.90.
• Tuticorin Port:
  • Now named V.O. Chidambaranar Port. It is an artificial port in the Gulf of Mannar.
  • It is noted for a direct weekly container service to the United States, once unique in South India.
• Ennore Port:
  • Now Kamarajar Port Limited, the first corporate port of India, registered as a public company.
  • The Government held about 68% of the stake until 2020, when it sold its share of 66.67% to Chennai Port, which now owns the company.
• Mormugao Port:
  • In Goa, and for long the leading iron-ore exporting port of India.

Sethusamudram Ship Channel

• The sea between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar is too shallow for shipping, so vessels between India’s west and east coasts must sail round Sri Lanka.
• The Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project planned a dredged route of about 167 km through this stretch.
  • The idea goes back to Commander A. D. Taylor (1860). Several later alignments followed, and the alignment approved after a 2004 environmental assessment was inaugurated in 2005.
  • Dredging at Ram Setu (Adam’s Bridge), a chain of shoals and sandbars about 30 km long, stopped after Supreme Court orders in 2007, and a search for an alternative alignment followed.
  • In March 2018, the Central Government told the Court it would look for a route that leaves Ram Setu untouched. The project has not resumed.

• For the project: savings in time and fuel, fifteen minor ports between Kanniyakumari and Chennai, and growth in the backward districts of Ramanathapuram and Tuticorin.
• Against it: harm to the Gulf of Mannar’s marine parks and biosphere reserve and to fishing livelihoods, dumping of dredged sand, constant silting from the Palk Strait’s currents and cyclones, and the religious and heritage value placed on Ram Setu.