<p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">India's ports have become busier and more efficient over the past decade, but a new FICCI-Kearney report argues that the next phase of maritime growth will be decided less by berths and cranes than by the inland connectivity and logistics coordination that connect ports to markets . The report, titled "India's Maritime Agenda for 2030: From efficient ports to globally connected trade gateways," was released in Mumbai on 3 November 2026 and presents a detailed diagnosis of where India's port system succeeds and where it falls short.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The progress is real and measurable. Cargo handled at India's major and non-major ports rose 38% between FY 2017–18 and FY 2025–26, from 1,209 million tonnes to 1,668 million tonnes, while handling capacity grew 22% to 2.8 billion tonnes a year . Utilisation climbed from 52% to 59%, leaving the system with considerable headroom . Average vessel turnaround at major ports fell 18% to about 49 hours, and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Pipavav, and Mundra all rank among the top 30 in the World Bank's Container Port Performance Index 2025 . These are genuine achievements, and they establish that India's port infrastructure is no longer the primary constraint on trade.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The delays have migrated inland. At the four core seaports covered by the 2025 National Time Release Study, export approval took about 30 hours on average, but the interval between approval and vessel departure stretched to about 158 hours, or 84% of total measured time . At Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House, customs clearance for exports averaged just 2 hours 12 minutes in 2026, yet the full export cycle exceeded eight days . The report cautions that this reflects logistics activity and scheduled waiting, not only avoidable delay, but it identifies where coordination matters most: the period after a shipment is cleared is where the system's inefficiency concentrates.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">Transshipment is the second structural weakness. About 75% of India's transshipment containers were handled at overseas ports as of May 2025 . The commissioning of Vizhinjam in May 2025 added deepwater domestic capacity, but subsequent shifts in shipping-line rotations show how difficult it is to secure hub status . This means that even as India's ports handle more cargo, a substantial share of the value-added transshipment activity—and the revenue and network effects that come with it—continues to accrue to foreign hubs.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The report also quantifies the gap in hinterland connectivity. Of the 294 road and rail projects identified to link ports with their hinterlands, 84 had been completed by July 2026 . The 1,506-km Western Dedicated Freight Corridor connecting JNPA with Dadri was fully commissioned in March 2026, a significant milestone, but the broader project pipeline remains largely incomplete . Private participation has expanded under the Major Port Authorities Act 2021, with privately run terminals handling about two-thirds of major-port cargo, against a government target of 85% by 2030 .</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">Drawing on the experience of Shanghai–Ningbo, Rotterdam, Jebel Ali, and Singapore, the report assesses Indian gateways against six pillars ranging from berth productivity and liner services to industrial clusters and digital border systems . Its recommendations are targeted: the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and state governments should define the cargo, industrial catchments, and overseas markets each priority gateway will serve, and align investment with demonstrated demand . Road and rail links should be prioritised around actual cargo flows, jointly with the railways and road transport ministries . Shipment data and time-release studies should be used to identify where cargo spends time, and why .</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The report proposes a designated coordinator for each gateway, with every intervention assigned an owner, a funding route, and a milestone, and performance tracked on total shipment cost, transit reliability, market access, cargo growth, and commercial returns . This governance recommendation reflects a recognition that the constraints are not primarily financial or technical but organisational: the actors who control different stages of the export cycle—customs, ports, shipping lines, inland transport, and terminal operators—do not currently coordinate around a shared objective of reducing total shipment time.</span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">For India's exporters, the report's findings translate into a familiar frustration: goods clear customs quickly but then wait for days before a vessel departs, and the transshipment reliance means that cargo often passes through foreign hubs before reaching its final destination. The FICCI-Kearney analysis provides the data to support what exporters have long experienced, and it frames the next phase of reform as one of coordination and gateway strategy rather than capacity expansion. For the government, the report offers a roadmap that is specific enough to be actionable, though its implementation will depend on whether the proposed gateway coordinators are empowered to drive change across institutional boundaries.</span></p>