Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari has said that a master plan for 142 expansion projects worth more than Rs 90,000 crore has been finalised to modernise 12 major ports and develop new harbours. He also pointed out that these top ports, under the administrative control of the Centre, recorded a growth rate of 3.24 percent in cargo to 326.4 million tonne (MT) during April-September 2017 as against 316.1 MT in the corresponding period last year.
The minister further said that a total of 142 expansion projects have been identified for these ports and timely delivery of projects will give the much needed boost to the economy. He also mentioned that out of 142 identified expansion projects, 57 projects are under implementation and one has been completed. According to the government, the April-September figures of the cargo at 12 major ports show that the highest growth was registered by Cochin Port (19.62 percent), followed by Kolkata (including Haldia), New Mangalore, Paradip with a growth of about 12 percent each.
India has 12 major ports, namely Kandla, Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Ennore, V O Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia), which handle approximately 61 per cent of the country's total cargo traffic.