With an investment of Rs 20,535 crore, 39 port projects are under implementation to augment the capacity of 12 major ports. These projects are part of 112 expansion projects, involving a total investment of Rs 69,636 crore. Post expansion, the port capacity is expected to increase 3,500 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to cater to the projected traffic of 2,500 mtpa by 2025.

These 112 port capacity expansion projects had been identified for implementation over the next 20 years and are expected to add 780 mtpa capacity at major ports.

Cargo traffic at these ports rose 4.77 per cent to 679.35 million tonnes (mt) during 2017-18 compared with 648.39 mt during 2016-17. At present, the 12 major ports have a capacity of about 1,400 mt.

In addition to the master plan project, the government has also announced setting up of six new ports at Vadhavan (Maharashtra), Enayam (Tamil Nadu), Tajpur (West Bengal), Paradip Outer Harbour (Odisha), Sirkazhi (Tamil Nadu) and Belekeri (Karnataka).