Jawaharlal Nehru Port, also known as JNPT and Nhava Sheva Port, is the second largest container port in India after

Mundra Port Mundra Port is India's first private port, largest Containerization, container List of ports in India, port in India and largest commercial port, located on the northern shores of the Gulf of Kutch near Mundra, Kutch district, Gujarat. Formerly ...

. Operated by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust Authority (JNPTA), it is located on the eastern shores of

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

in Navi Mumbai, Raigad district, Maharashtra. This port can be accessed via Thane Creek, a nodal city of Navi Mumbai. It is the main port of the

Mumbai Metropolitan Region Mumbai Metropolitan Region (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Muṁbaī Mahānagara Pradēśa''; abbreviated to MMR and previously also known as Greater Bombay Metropolitan Area), is a metropolitan area consisting of Mumbai and its Satellite city, satellite tow ...

after Mumbai Port, also of Maharashtra and

Western India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of western states of India, Republic of India. The Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative divisions of India, Adminis ...

. Its common name derives from the names of Nhava-Sheva (new sheva) village that is situated here. It is also the terminal of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. As of January 2023, the port is undergoing upgrades with the help of a loan agreement signed between the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

(ADB) and Nhava Sheva Freeport Terminal Private Limited (NSFTPL). The loan of $131 million will be used to improve the terminal's infrastructure, increase its container handling capacity, upgrade existing berths and yards, and install energy-efficient equipment. The upgrades aim to attract vessels and make international trade more efficient, transparent and sustainable.

History

The port was established on 26 May 1989 and became the second largest and premier container handling port in India, surpassing the capacity of 4 million TEUs (

Twenty-foot equivalent unit The twenty-foot equivalent unit (abbreviated TEU or teu) is a general unit of cargo capacity, often used for container ships and container ports.Rowlett, 2004. It is based on the volume of a intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box tha ...

s) in containers between 2016 and 2021. JNP consists of a full-fledged customs house, 30 container freight stations and connectivity to 52 inland container depots across the country. The hinterland connectivity both by rail and road is being further strengthened by ongoing projects like the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), which will increase the existing train capacity from 27 to 100 trains per day; Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) and widening of the port's connecting roads. Its proximity to the cities of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune; airports, hotels, exhibition centres, etc. gives the port an edge in efficiency and promptness to address the shippers’ needs. In 2006, the port implemented the logistics data tagging of containers. JNPT houses India’s best logistics connectivity with facilitation from container freight stations and logistics parks owned by government as well as private players namely Maharashtra State Warehousing Corporation, DRT, Gateway District Park, Allcargo, Avashya, Continental Warehousing, Ameya Logistics, TransIndia and Contegrate Entrepot. JNPT authorities have been trying to implement direct port delivery model of the containers, a first of its kind model promoted to ease doing business in India.

Nhava Sheva Freeport container terminal

The JNP Trust (JNPT) Container Terminal was originally operated by JNPT. It has a

quay A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

length of with 3 berths. Thane Creek and Elephanta Island 03-2016 - img27 view from Cannon Hill

In 2023 Nhava Sheva Freeport Terminal Private Limited commenced operations of the terminal (renamed to the NSFT terminal) and plans to enhance it to handle 1.8 million TEUs by 2025.

Nhava Sheva International container terminal

The Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT) was originally leased to a consortium led by P&O, a part of

DP World DP World is a multinational logistics company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It specialises in cargo logistics, port terminal operations, maritime services and free trade zones. Formed in 2005 by the merger of Dubai Ports Authority and ...

. Commissioned in July 2000, it has a quay length with two berths. It was intended to handle up to 62.15 million tonnes of cargo. NSICT was India’s first privately managed container terminal.

GTI-APM container terminal

In the year 2006, GTI (Gateway Terminals India Pvt Ltd) commissioned a third container terminal operated by

APM Terminals APM Terminals is a Port operator, port operating company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands. A unit of Denmark, Danish Freight transport, shipping company Maersk's Transport and Logistics division. It manages container terminals and provides ...

, with the capacity to handle 1.3 million TEUs.

Bharat Mumbai container terminal

The fourth container terminal, Bharat Mumbai Container Terminal (BMCT), is developed and operated by PSA International. Phase 1 with capacity of 2.4 million TEUs was completed in Dec 2017. The terminal was planned to have full capacity of 4.8 million TEUs p.a. and a quay length of 2,000 meters with the completion of Phase 2. Thane Creek and Elephanta Island 03-2016 - img11 Port in Navi Mumbai

Thane Creek and Elephanta Island 03-2016 - img11 Port in Navi Mumbai

Nhava Sheva (India) Gateway container terminal

A new standalone container terminal by the name of NSIGT, having a quay length of 330 meters and a capacity of 0.8 million TEUs was operational in July 2016.

Traffic

Major exports from Jawaharlal Nehru Port are textiles, sporting goods, carpets, textile machinery, boneless meat, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. The main imports are chemicals, machinery, plastics, electrical machinery, vegetable oils, and aluminium and other non-ferrous metals. The port handles cargo traffic mostly originating from or destined for

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, as well as most of

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

References

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External links

Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT)Jawaharlal Nehru Custom House
Economy of Mumbai Economy of Navi Mumbai Ports and harbours of Maharashtra Monuments and memorials to Jawaharlal Nehru Transport in Navi Mumbai Transport infrastructure completed in 1989 1989 establishments in India