With a 6,000 km long coastline, India has 12 major ports and 181 minor/ intermediate ports out of which 139 are operational at present. These ports handle over 90% of India’s foreign trade.

The 12 major Indian ports, which are managed by the Port Trust of India under Central Government jurisdiction, handle 90 percent of the all-India port throughput. The major ports are located at Calcutta/ Haldia, Chennai, Cochin, Ennore, Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva, Kandla, Mormugao, Mumbai, New Mangalore, Paradip, Tuticorin and Vishakhapatnam.

The 139 minor ports are under the jurisdiction of the respective State Governments. Dry and liquid bulk make up about 80 percent of the port traffic in volume with general cargo, including the containerised cargo, constituting the remaining traffic

Tariffs in ‘major ports’ are regulated by the Tariff Authority of Major Ports (TAMP), a regulatory body established in 1997. For non-major port tariff are regulated by either the state governments or through the concession agreement between a state government and a private port operator. The Government of India is currently considering to amend the TAMP Act and expand its scope of regulation.

The Directorate General of Shipping, deals with implementation of the shipping policy and legislation so as to ensure the safety of life and ships at sea, prevention of marine pollution, regulation of employment and welfare of seamen, development of coastal shipping, augmentation of shipping tonnage, examination and certification of Merchant Navy Officers, etc.

There are several state level maritime boards (such as the Gujarat Maritime Board, Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), Tamilnadu Maritime Board, Andhra Maritime Board etc) which look after development of ports and shipping sectors under their respective jurisdictions.