Key Details
FICCI and Kearney’s India’s Maritime Agenda for 2030 examines whether improvements inside ports are translating into better connections between Indian businesses and overseas markets.
Measure | Finding |
|---|---|
Cargo handled at major and non-major ports | 1,668 million tonnes in FY2025–26, up 38% from FY2017–18 |
Annual handling capacity | 2.8 billion tonnes, up 22% over the same period |
Export time at four seaports in the 2025 National Time Release Study | About 30 hours to approval, followed by 158 hours from approval to vessel departure |
Containers transshipped through overseas ports | About 75% of India’s transshipment containers as of May 2025 |
Identified road and rail links to ports | 84 of 294 projects completed by July 2026 |
Faster Ports Do Not Guarantee Faster Shipments
India’s ports are handling more cargo, while average vessel turnaround at major ports has fallen to about 49 hours. The study argues that the next constraint is not simply a shortage of berths or cranes. Exporters also depend on reliable inland links, available shipping services and coordination between the many organisations that move a shipment.
At four seaports, 84% of the measured time from export processing to vessel departure came after export approval. That does not mean all 158 post-approval hours are avoidable: they include logistics activity and waiting for scheduled sailings. It does show why quicker customs approval alone may have a limited effect on the time an exporter waits to ship goods.
Different Ports Need Different Trade Strategies
The study proposes distinct plans for container gateways, transshipment hubs, industrial and energy gateways, and specialised export corridors. Each would be developed around the cargo it can attract, the industries and inland markets it serves, and its connections to overseas routes.
Transshipment illustrates the challenge. Around three-quarters of India’s transshipment containers were handled abroad as of May 2025. Vizhinjam has since added domestic deepwater capacity, but attracting and retaining shipping-line services is a separate commercial task from building the port.
Policy Relevance
The study shifts attention from how much capacity India builds to how reliably a shipment reaches its market. It recommends prioritising road and rail links around actual cargo flows and using shipment-time data to identify where time is spent. A designated coordinator for each gateway could give projects a clear owner, funding route and milestone.
For exporters, the meaningful measures would be total shipment cost, predictable transit times and access to shipping routes—not port capacity alone. Those outcomes would also show whether investments across ports, transport links and logistics services are working together.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: Which port-to-market routes should receive priority investment, and who will be accountable for improving the total time and cost of moving cargo through them?
Follow the Full Press Release Here: FICCI–Kearney on India’s Maritime Agenda for 2030