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have been invited for the modernisation of ports in India. Can you find out the reasons for the ThecapacityofIndianportsincreasedfrom variationsinthelocationofportsalongthe 20 million tonnes of cargo handling in 1951 to twocoasts? more than 837 million tonnes in 2016. Some of the Indian ports along with their Though ports have been in use since hinterlands are as follows : ancient times, the emergence of ports as Deendayal Port (Kandla port) situated gateways of international trade became at the head of Gulf of Kuchchh has been important after the coming of the European developed as a major port to cater to the needs traders and colonisation of the country by theof western and north western parts of the British. This led to the variation in the size and country and also to reduce the pressure at qualityofports.Therearesomeportswhichhave Mumbai port. The port is specially designed to veryvastareaofinfluenceandsomehavelimited receive large quantities of petroleum and areaofinfluence.Atpresent,Indiahas12 major petroleum products and fertiliser. The offshore ports and 200 minor or intermediate ports. In terminal at Vadinar has been developed to case of the major ports, the central governmenreduce the pressure at the port. decides the policy and plays regulatory Demarcation of the boundary of the functions. The minor ports are there whose hinterland would be difficult as it is not fixed policy and functions are regulated by state over space. In most of the cases, hinterland governments. The major ports handle larger of one port may overlap with that of the other. share of the total traffic. Mumbai is a natural harbour and the TheBritishusedtheportsassuctionpoints biggest port of the country. The port is of the resources from their hinterlands. The situated closer to the general routes from the extension of railways towards the interior countries of Middle East, Mediterranean facilitated the linking of the local markets tcountries, North Africa, North America and regional markets, regional markets to nationalEurope where the major share of country’s marketsandnationalmarketstotheinternational overseas trade is carried out. The port is 20 markets. This trend continued till 1947. It wasm long and 6-10 km wide with 54 berths expected that the country’s Independence will and has the country’s largest oil terminal. reverse the process, but the partition of the M.P., Maharashtra, Gujarat, U.P. and parts countrysnatchedawaytwoveryimportantports, of Rajasthan constitute the main hinterlands i.e.,KarachiportwenttoPakistanandChittagong of Mumbai ports. port to the erstwhile east-Pakistan and now Jawaharlal Nehru Port at Nhava Sheva Bangladesh.Tocompensatethelosses,manynew was developed as a satellite port to relieve the ports, like the Kandla in the west and the pressure at the Mumbai port. It is the largest DiamondHarbournearKolkataonriverHugliin container port in India. theeastweredeveloped. Mormugao Port, situated at the entrance Despite this major setback, Indian ports of the Zuari estuary, is a natural harbour in Goa. It gained significance after its remodelling continued to grow after the Independence. Today, Indian ports are handling large in 1961 to handle iron-ore exports to Japan. volumes of domestic, as well as, overseas Construction of Konkan railway has trade. Most of the ports are equipped with considerably extended the hinterland of this modern infrastructure. Previously, the port. Karnataka, Goa, Southern Maharashtra development and modernisation was the constitute its hinterland. responsibility of the government agencies, New Mangalore Port is located in the but considering the increase in function and stateofKarnatakaandcaterstotheneedsofthe need to bring these ports at par with the export of iron-ore and iron-concentrates. It also international ports, private entrepreneurs handles fertilisers, petroleum products, edible 90 India : People and Economy Reprint 2026-27