Port capacity and vessel turnaround times have improved, but a FICCI-Kearney study finds post-clearance handling, transport and scheduling still add nearly 158 hours to sea exports.
India’s ports have added significant capacity in recent years, but a new industry study suggests the country’s export machine is still being held back by delays beyond the quay. A joint report by FICCI and Kearney said annual cargo-handling capacity at Indian ports rose 22 per cent from 2.3 billion tonnes in 2017-18 to 2.8 billion tonnes, while cargo moved through major and non-major ports climbed 38 per cent over the same period to 1,668 million tonnes.
That growth has left ports operating more efficiently, but still with spare room. The report said utilisation improved from 52 per cent to 59 per cent, and average vessel turnaround time at major ports fell 18 per cent to about 49 hours. The World Bank’s 2025 Container Port Performance Index placed Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Pipavav and Mundra among the world’s top 30 ports, underlining gains in operational performance even as wider logistics constraints persist.
The biggest bottleneck, according to the study, lies after customs clearance. Government data from the National Time Release Study 2025 showed that for sea exports, regulatory clearance took an average of 29 hours and 36 minutes, but the post-clearance stage added a further 157 hours and 50 minutes. A detailed study by Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House found a similar pattern, with customs processing relatively quick but the full export cycle still stretching to more than eight days because of handling, consolidation, transport and vessel scheduling.
That gap helps explain why India still relies heavily on overseas transhipment hubs. The report said international ports handled about 75 per cent of the country’s transhipment containers as of May 2025, even after the launch of operations at Vizhinjam in May 2025. The government has promoted Vizhinjam as India’s first dedicated container transhipment port, but shipping-line route changes since then suggest domestic capacity alone will not be enough to shift traffic home.
The report also pointed to the importance of land-side links. Private operators currently handle about two-thirds of traffic at major ports, and the government wants that share to rise to 85 per cent by 2030. Of 294 identified connectivity projects, 84 had been completed by July 2026. The 1,506-kilometre Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, which links Dadri with JNPA, became fully operational in March 2026, offering a major rail artery for freight. Even so, the report called for separate development plans for container ports, transhipment centres, energy terminals and export corridors, with road and rail investment guided by actual freight flows rather than broad assumptions.
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