India's major ports see 3.2% cargo growth in December, Deendayal Port tops

India’s 12 major ports, under the Central government, handled 72.2 million tonnes of cargo in December, a 3.22 per cent growth over the same month last year.

According to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Deendayal Port in Gujarat’s Kandla had the highest volume of 13.03 million tonnes.

Odisha’s Paradip Port was second with 12.84 million tonnes (MT), Jawaharlal Nehru Port third with 8.32 MT, Vizag with 6.51 MT and SMP Kolkata with 5.44 MT.

Together the top 5 ports accounted for 63.94 per cent of the total cargo.

Overseas cargo accounted for 55.78 MT (77.31 per cent) of the cargo handled at the major ports in December, while coastal cargo was 16.37 MT (22.69 per cent).

Container cargo, which represents finished goods and is around 25 per cent of total trade, grew 17 per cent to 17.4 MT in December. This is despite the overall shortage of containers in the global market where exporters and importers were struggling to get supply chain.

Coal volumes across segments at major ports decreased as imports fell due to higher domestic production. Thermal coal, which is 12 per cent of total cargo volume for major ports, was down 0.1 per cent to 8.7 MT, coking coal was down 4 per cent to 2.9 MT and coal (other than thermal/coking) was nearly half at 2.5 MT.

Deendayal Port has regained its top spot as the major port with 12 per cent increase in overseas cargo to 98 MT in this financial year. It had slipped in 2024-25.

Kolkata Port has seen 12 per cent decline in cargo this financial year to 44 MT. Its overseas cargo has fallen by 13 per cent.

Visakhapatnam Port has seen 2 per cent decline in overseas cargo but coastal cargo has grown, data shows.