FY22 traffic at major ports grows 7%, five ports post highest ever tonnage

The 13 major ports handle over 95 per cent of the country's export-import cargo, with Navi Mumbai's JNPT accounting for over half the cargo volumes

India's major ports moved 719.38 million metric tonne (mmt) of traffic over 2021-22, recording a growth of 6.94 per cent from the previous year's figure of 672.68 mt.

The 13 major ports handle over 95 per cent of the country's export-import (EXIM) cargo, with Navi Mumbai's Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) accounting for over half the cargo volumes.

"Our constant endeavour and sustained effort to bring in efficiency in our processes and policy changes has resulted significant improvement in the performance of the major verticals of the ministry in the last fiscal," Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal told Business Standard.

The minister added that five of the 13 major ports recorded their highest ever traffic growth. "We will continue to move along the path of PM Gati Shakti."

As per the ministry's data, these five ports were Kamarajar Port (49.6 per cent), JNPT (17.3 per cent), Deendayal Port (8.1 per cent), Mumbai Port (11.5 per cent), and Cochin Port (9.7 per cent).

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) also reported a growth of over 25 per cent in cargo moved through national waterways, reporting 105 mmt of traffic.