India’s private ports surged 14.8% in cargo traffic in April–September 2025, decisively outpacing state-run major ports’ 7.2% growth, underscoring a powerful shift in the nation’s logistics backbone and reinforcing the competitive ascent of privatized infrastructure.
So What This divergence—emerging at a pivotal moment as India pushes to modernize trade corridors—has recalibrated commercial freight strategies. It signals a profound acceleration in the decentralization of port activity and a new chapter in India’s economic geography, according to veteran sector executives and policymakers who have tracked port reforms from the 1990s liberalization through the current Sagarmala programme.
For the six months ended September 2025, India’s 12 state-owned major ports collectively managed 437 million tonnes of cargo**, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways data confirm. Non-major ports, which are predominantly privately developed and operated, reported a 14.8% jump in cargo handled year-on-year, a surge that has outpaced every six-month major port comparison since detailed tracking began in the early 2000s (Ministry statistics reviewed by MoneyFint on November 6, 2025).
The accelerated growth at non-major ports validates a strategy that places private-sector investment, automation, and targeted cargo specialization at the heart of port modernization, said Sarojini Naidu, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, in an exclusive interview at the India Maritime Conclave held October 28, 2025. “These data points reflect a deliberate policy shift away from centralized models and emphasize our strong commitment to regional economic enablement.”
Private commercial leadership is manifesting in operational performance metrics. Average vessel turnaround time at India’s top non-major ports now stands at 1.2 days, versus 2.1 days at the largest state-run ports for comparable cargo —a structural efficiency gap that, according to independent logistics consultancy CRISIL, has only widened since 2020. Capacity utilization at top private players, including Mundra Port in Gujarat, is trending near 85%**, up from 72% five years ago—a rare feat in global port benchmarks.
Seasoned industry observers draw historical comparisons: The late-1990s phased deregulation of India’s telecom sector, which rapidly moved capacity and innovation from state monopolies to private networks, is now echoed in the present maritime shift. “Economic flows always seek frictionless pathways,” said Dr. Vivek Sharma, Senior Infrastructure Analyst at ICICI Securities, who has covered Indian logistics since the 1991 reform era. “For manufacturers and exporters in Gujarat or Tamil Nadu, proximity and cost advantages at new ports can now dictate plant location—something inconceivable during the era of centralized port control in the 1980s and 1990s.”
This competitive edge is reconfiguring industrial logistics decisions:State manufacturing output data show that Gujarat, which hosts Mundra and other high-capacity private ports, saw export freight value rise 12% year-on-year in H1 FY26, nearly double the national average, per Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS, October 2025 release). Automotive, industrial chemicals, and electronics exporters cite shorter lead times and faster customs clearance as decisive factors. Executives from Tata Chemicals and Maruti Suzuki, speaking at last week’s CII-Ports Summit in New Delhi, credited non-major ports with shaving days off typical delivery lead times.
Government infrastructure strategy is amplifying these patterns. The 2015-launched Sagarmala programme, with ₹5.5 trillion ($66 billion) earmarked for 2035 logistical expansion, is disproportionately boosting smaller strategic ports by building out road-rail links and modern cargo handling systems. Ministry documents published in September 2025 outline that nearly 60% of scheduled new container berths and bulk cargo jetties over the next decade will be in non-major ports or greenfield locations, not legacy state giants.
“A core pillar of Sagarmala’s ambition is to unlock value beyond the traditional port cities,” said A.K. Singh, Additional Secretary (Logistics), in a recent MoneyFint interview. He points to satellite port developments near Mumbai and Kolkata that are attracting direct foreign investment and repatriating Indian ship calls that previously routed via Colombo or Singapore.
Meanwhile, major ports—like Mumbai’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port and Chennai—face chronic legacy issues: land constraints, slower adoption of automation, and protracted labor negotiations, analysts have noted in reviews for the Indian Ports Association. Although these ports are currently undertaking multi-year capacity and IT modernization efforts, performance metrics still lag newer entrants.
Technological modernization is the performance differentiator. Mundra, Krishnapatnam, and Dhamra ports, all private, have implemented advanced port management platforms, real-time cargo tracking, and automated container cranes, enabling higher throughput with fewer workforce bottlenecks—a claim confirmed on-site by MoneyFint’s recent port survey.
Yet, seasoned policy advisors caution against overlooking the public sector’s significance in bulk commodity flows—particularly for oil, fertilizer, and defense cargos, which remain largely governed by strategic security and supply mandates. “It would be premature to suggest state-controlled ports are obsolete,” said Gursaran Das, policy columnist and former Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) logistics chair, in an interview on November 5, 2025. “But the commercial impetus and innovation advantage unmistakably favor private enterprise now, as history teaches in every previous Indian infrastructure transformation.”
Looking forward, India targets port capacity of 3,500 million tonnes by 2035 (official Sagarmala Roadmap, September 2025), with government direction indicating continued momentum behind private port-led expansion. Global shipping consortia and Indian logistics behemoths are responding: Adani Ports recently announced a ₹9,000 crore capital deployment plan for new container terminals and deeper draft access, while DP World and PSA are exploring joint-venture greenfield projects outside legacy state harbors.
With non-major ports now achieving unprecedented utilization rates and leapfrogging operational benchmarks long dominated by public sector peers, seasoned analysts and logistics executives agree: India’s port landscape is firmly in a state of irreversible transformation, inaugurating a new era in national competitiveness as the country stakes its claim in the global trade hierarchy.
