Major ports report 8% increase in volume in April-Dec 2025 A government official said the investments made by major ports in augmentation and efficiency has been a major factor in the cargo volume growth By T E Raja Simhan

 

Traffic through India’s 12 major ports rose by 8 per cent in the first nine months of the current financial year, with all the ports posting a positive growth. The major ports, governed by the Centre, handled 672 million tonnes (mt) in total between April 1 and December 31, 2025, as against 621 mt in the same period last year.

Increased handling of containers and Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants (POL) – despite the decline in import of Russian oil – helped the major ports post 8 per cent growth. Both containers and POL handling grew at over 10 per cent, as per data from the Indian Ports Association.

Kpler’s data shows that India’s imports of Russian crude fell by 595 kbpd month-on-month (m-o-m) in December, dropping to 1.24 mbpd. This was the lowest level since December 2022, according to Kpler.

Interestingly, all major ports reported a positive growth in the first nine months. However, in the same period last year, Kolkata, New Mangalore and Mormugao ports reported a decline over the previous year.

Deendayal port (formerly Kandla port) topped the list with cargo volume of 116 mt (7 per cent growth), followed by Paradip (115 mt) and JNPA (75 mt), the data shows.

In April to December this fiscal, Mormugao port posted the highest growth though the base was small while growth rate of handling by Kamarajar (Ennore) port was the lowest.

Diversifying sourcing

POL volumes at Indian ports will primarily comprise imports of crude oil, LPG, and natural gas, along with exports of key petroleum products such as motor spirit, high-speed diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), said Prashant Vasisht, Senior Vice President and Co-Group Head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA. The decline in volumes from Russia is expected to be offset by increased crude procurement from other regions. Overall, POL volumes handled at ports will continue to grow in line with domestic demand and consumption, despite the reduction in Russian oil supplies, he told businessline.

As per ICRA analysis, POL like crude oil, LNG, and LPG, continued to hold the largest share at around 28 per cent, followed by coal at 24 per cent and containers at nearly 23 per cent. The remaining cargo comprised iron ore, fertilizers, and other commodities.

The rise in container volumes reflects the increasing containerisation of cargo in India, fueled by growing manufacturing activity, rising domestic consumption, and the e-commerce boom. Additionally, various Government of India (GoI) initiatives aimed at promoting multimodal logistics have further supported this trend, Vasisht said.

A government official said the investments made by major ports in augmentation and efficiency has been a major factor in the cargo volume growth. After the new Major Ports Act, ports are free to decide rates as per market. If service is bad non-major ports (privately run) are there in the vicinity. The market decides, he said.

Published on January 7, 202

Suez Canal ship transits down 60% over 2023 Even though shipping companies returned to Suez Canal after Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced an end to vessel-related attacks, stakeholders have remained cautious

 

Ship sailings via Suez Canal are 60 per cent lower compared to the figure in 2023, but normalisation of the Red Sea appears more likely compared to past two years, an analysis by global shipping organisation BIMCO shows.

The last attack on a cargo ship in Gulf of Aden occurred on September 29, 2025. Subsequently, in November, the Houthi rebels of Yemen announced an end to all attacks on ships. Since then, shipping companies are taking cautious steps in using the Red Sea route. 

On December 19, 2025, a Maersk-owned ship used the Red Sea route for the first time in two years. French container line CMA CGM is also increasing its transits with ships making port calls at Malta and Port Said.

However, overall Suez Canal transits in first week of January were 60 per cent lower compared to first week of 2023, said Niels Rasmussen, chief shipping analyst at BIMCO.

Alternate route

While the safety of crew, ship and cargo remains paramount, recent reductions in Red Sea war risk premiums may encourage more ships to revert to Suez Canal routings. In early December, S&P Global reported that premiums fell to 0.2 per cent of hull values, the lowest since November 2023 and down from 0.5 per cent before the Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

“A normalisation of ship transits now appears more likely than at any point during the last two years, but it remains unknown if and how fast this may happen,” Rasmussen said.

According to him, a return to Suez Canal would reduce shipping companies’ costs significantly, but also hurt ship demand. “A full normalisation is estimated to reduce container ship demand by approximately 10 per cent while other sectors could see 2-3 per cent reductions,” he said.

MatchLog ties up with Softlink Global to enhance container asset optimisation capabilities The integration would help container reuse and asset optimisation for freight forwarders, third-party logistics providers and shipping companies

 

Container reuse platform MatchLog on Tuesday said it has entered into an agreement with logistics solutions provider Softlink Global to integrate its container equipment optimisation capabilities with the latter's enterprise resource planning platform Logi-Sys.

The integration would help container reuse and asset optimisation for freight forwarders, third-party logistics providers and shipping companies.

The integration is designed to scale across more than 100 countries where Logi-Sys is already deployed, using Softlink Global's footprint to standardise container reuse practices while adapting to regional operating realities, it said.

Softlink Global is a digital backbone platform powering freight and logistics operations for more than 5,100 companies globally, while its enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform serves as the system of record for freight forwarding, customs, warehousing and financial operations.

By embedding container optimisation within Logi-Sys, customers gain unified operational control across freight forwarding execution, container visibility, asset utilisation, customs documentation, warehousing and financial workflows through a single operational system, MatchLog said.

"Trade lanes across the Asia-Pacific region continue to face persistent container imbalance and empty repositioning challenges. Through this collaboration, we are taking a decisive step towards making container optimisation a seamless part of every logistics workflow. Integrating this capability within ERP systems empowers operators to strengthen asset utilisation, lower costs and accelerate progress towards more sustainable and efficient supply chains," said Manish Singh, Co-founder, MatchLog.

The strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) addresses long-standing inefficiencies in container logistics by placing container reuse intelligence inside the same ERP workflows where bookings, documentation, billing and cost control are already managed, it said.

"By embedding MatchLog's reuse intelligence directly into Logi-Sys, we are extending ERP from transaction management into asset efficiency. This gives our customers tighter cost control, better planning discipline and cleaner execution without adding operational complexity," said Amit Maheshwari, Founder and CEO, Softlink Global.

India–US Air Cargo Volumes Jump 15% in Late January Despite Tariffs

 

India’s air cargo exports to the United States climbed 15 per cent year on year in the week of January 19–25, 2026, extending the strong momentum seen through the closing months of 2025, according to WorldACD’s Weekly Air Cargo Trends. This growth came despite higher US tariffs introduced in the second half of last year, underscoring the resilience of India–US trade lanes and sustained demand for time-sensitive exports.

India remained the largest origin market within the broader Middle East and South Asia region in week 4, as total air freight tonnages from the region rose 10 per cent year on year. Shipments from Middle East and South Asia to the US were up 11 per cent, while exports to Europe increased 7 per cent compared with the same week a year earlier, pointing to broad-based strength in outbound flows.

Globally, air cargo demand stabilised after the usual year-end dip, with worldwide chargeable weight up 1 per cent week on week and 3 per cent higher year on year. Capacity, however, expanded faster at 6 per cent above last year’s level, keeping average freight rates under pressure; global rates were 1 per cent lower year on year even though they edged up 2 per cent week on week to 2.43 dollars per kilo.

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WorldACD noted that volumes from Asia-Pacific to the US and Europe flattened in week 4 after two weeks of strong recovery, with flows to the US marginally lower year on year and shipments to Europe still ahead of last year’s levels. For Indian exporters, the latest figures suggest that, despite tariff-related headwinds and shifting capacity dynamics, the India–US air cargo corridor continues to offer robust uplift for key product categories moving by air.

Centre bets on inland waterways, coastal shipping to drive logistics efficiency The Union Budget aims to enhance logistics efficiency by boosting inland waterways and coastal shipping, targeting a significant modal shift. By T E Raja Simhan

 

The 2026-27 Union Budget has provided a major boost to the Inland Waterways Transport (IWT), with 20 new national waterways to be operationalised over the next five years.

Despite being economical and cost effective, only 2-3 per cent of the country’s overall freight movement is through IWT. Road transport has a lion’s share of nearly 65 per cent and followed by rail at 26 per cent, said sources.

Freight corridors

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech to promote environmentally sustainable movement of cargo, proposed establishing new dedicated freight corridors connecting Dankuni in the East to Surat in the West. Further, starting with NW-5 in Odisha to connect mineral rich areas of Talcher and Angul and industrial centres like Kalinga Nagar to the Ports of Paradeep and Dhamra.

A coastal cargo promotion scheme will be launched to incentivise a modal shift from rail and road, to increase the share of inland waterways and coastal shipping from 6 per cent to 12 per cent by 2047.

Coupled with new dedicated freight corridors and incentives for coastal and inland shipping, the Budget is clearly targeting logistics efficiency and modal shift. The challenge now lies in execution — particularly in translating ship repair hubs, container manufacturing and coastal cargo incentives into a competitive and viable domestic maritime ecosystem, Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, Senior Director & Global Head, Consulting, Crisil Intelligence on Ports and Shipping.

Coastal shipping

According to Suresh Kumar, MD, Allcargo Terminals Ltd, as inland waterways and coastal shipping gain scale, locally manufactured containers — a major push given in the Budget — can support smoother cargo movement across road, rail and water, improving modal efficiency and lowering overall logistics costs.

India has about 14,500 km of navigable waterways which consist of rivers, canals, backwaters, creeks, etc. About 145.5 million tonnes (MMT) of cargo is being moved annually by IWT, a fuel-efficient and environment-friendly mode.

Its operations are currently restricted to a few stretches in the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly rivers, the Brahmaputra, the Barak river, the rivers in Goa, the backwaters in Kerala, inland waters in Mumbai and the deltaic regions of the Godavari-Krishna rivers.

Besides these organised operations by mechanised vessels, country boats of various capacities also operate in various rivers and canals. A substantial quantity of cargo and passengers are transported in this unorganised sector as well, according to information in IWT website.

Maritime domain central to India’s economic growth: DG Shipping The Blue Economy has emerged as a critical driver of infrastructure development, global competitiveness and sustainable growth under the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047

 

India is steadily emerging as a global leader in the Blue Economy, supported by multiple initiatives focusing on ports, shipbuilding, logistics, renewable energy and allied maritime industries, Shyam Jagannathan, Director General of Shipping, has said.

Emphasising the growing importance of the maritime sector in India’s economic transformation, he said the Blue Economy has emerged as a critical driver of infrastructure development, global competitiveness and sustainable growth under the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

pivotal role

Addressing Comarsem 2026 in Kochi on Friday, Jagannathan said India’s maritime domain plays a pivotal role in trade and logistics, with over 90 per cent of the country’s trade by volume moving through sea routes. With 1,520-plus merchant vessels and over 13 million gross tonnage capacity, the country is strengthening its presence in global shipping and maritime services.

The Government aims to position the country among the top 10 global shipbuilding and ship repair nations, scaling capacity from 30,000 GT to over 500,000 GT, while ensuring more than 60 per cent renewable energy usage at major ports.

Referring to the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, Jagannathan said the advanced phase targets a top five global position in shipbuilding while maintaining global leadership in ship recycling. Key initiatives include development of carbon-neutral ports, promotion of green and alternative fuels, green bunkering infrastructure and incentives for low-emission vessels, supported by 300-plus strategic initiatives across 11 key maritime areas and 20–30 per cent financial assistance for green vessels, including retrofitting.

ship recycling

On ship recycling, he said India handles 30–35 per cent of global ship recycling tonnage, meets 20–25 per cent of domestic ferrous scrap demand and hosts 115 Hong Kong Convention-compliant yards at Alang–Sosiya in Gujarat, supporting the green steel ecosystem and large-scale employment.

He also highlighted major policy reforms, including the enactment of five landmark mercantile marine legislations in 2025 — the Bills of Lading Act, Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, Coastal Shipping Act, Merchant Shipping Act and Indian Ports Ac t— aimed at modernising regulation, improving ease of doing business and aligning India’s maritime framework with global standards.

Govt aims to make India 5th largest shipping nation by 2047: Minister Sonowal The Minister was virtually inaugurating the Cochin Marine Seminar (Comarsem 2026)

 

The Centre is working towards making India the fifth-largest shipping nation in terms of shipbuilding and ship ownership by Amrit Kaal 2047, said Sarbananda Sonowal, the Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

Shipbuilding, as a mother industry, has immense potential to generate large-scale employment while strengthening the national economy. At the same time, growth must be sustainable, with protection of the marine environment and safe living conditions for future generations, he said.

The Minister was virtually inaugurating the Cochin Marine Seminar (Comarsem 2026) organised by the Institute of Marine Engineers of India (IMEI) in collaboration with the Directorate General of Shipping.

creating ecosystem

Referring to recent government initiatives, Sonowal said policies such as the Shipbuilding Financial Assistance Policy 2.0, Ship Recycling Credit Policy, Maritime Development Fund, and incentives for brownfield and greenfield expansions are aimed at creating a robust ecosystem for the sector.

Shipping is a strategic sector in today’s highly unpredictable geopolitical environment. While these ambitions present challenges, they also open up significant opportunities for innovation, collaboration, and high-value business solutions. He highlighted the importance of platforms such as Comarsem in bringing together industry, policymakers, and investors to deliberate on critical issues, including the green transition in shipping.

Calling for collective action, the Minister urged stakeholders to work closely with the Government to realise India’s Amrit Kaal vision.

Themed “Maritime India — Innovations and Collaborations,” Comarsem 2026, which began here, brings together policymakers, industry leaders, technologists, academicians, and maritime professionals from India and abroad to deliberate on issues shaping the future of the maritime sector and India’s aspirations to emerge as a global maritime powerhouse.