Home › UPPCS › Indian Geography › Gap Sheets › Ports of India
UPPCS Indian Geography Gap Sheet: Ports of India.
UPPCS has asked 21 of these. 3 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
First, the concept
India has 12 major ports, run by the Centre, and about 200 non-major ports, run by the states. Vadhavan (Maharashtra) was approved in 2024 as the 13th major port.
A natural harbour is sheltered by the land itself (Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kochi). An artificial one needs breakwaters built in the sea (Chennai). A riverine port sits up a river (Kolkata on the Hooghly).
Several ports have new names. UPPCS can use either the old or the new one, so learn both.
✅ Already asked (21)
Major ports: west coast
- Deendayal (Kandla) · Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat; a tidal port with India's first free trade zone
- Mumbai · Maharashtra; a large natural harbour
- Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Nhava Sheva) · Navi Mumbai; India's biggest container port
- Mormugao · Goa; exports iron ore
- New Mangalore · Karnataka; exports Kudremukh iron ore
- Cochin (Kochi) · Kerala; a natural harbour on Willingdon Island, by the Vembanad backwaters
Major ports: east coast and islands
- V. O. Chidambaranar (Tuticorin) · Tamil Nadu; the southernmost major port
- Chennai · Tamil Nadu; one of the oldest artificial harbours
- Kamarajar (Ennore) · North of Chennai; India's first corporatised major port
- Visakhapatnam · Andhra Pradesh; a deep, land-locked and protected natural harbour
- Paradip · Odisha, Mahanadi delta; exports iron ore
- Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (Kolkata) · West Bengal; a riverine port on the Hooghly
- Haldia · Down the Hooghly; part of the Kolkata port, built to take bigger ships
- Port Blair (Sri Vijaya Puram) · Andaman and Nicobar Islands; a major port since 2010
Big non-major ports
- Mundra · Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat; India's largest private port
- Hazira · Near Surat, Gujarat; LNG terminal
- Krishnapatnam · Nellore, Andhra Pradesh
- Kakinada · Godavari delta, Andhra Pradesh
- Dhamra · Odisha
- Gopalpur · Odisha
- Karaikal · Puducherry
❌ Not asked yet (3)
🔒 3 items not asked yet
Major ports: west coast: 1 · Big non-major ports: 2
The UPPCS Pass opens every Repeat List and Gap Sheet, in English and Hindi.
Unlock the UPPCS Pass · ₹149Already bought? Enter your key
An All Access key works too.
⚠️ Kandla is on the Gulf of Kutch, on the west coast, not the east. Kolkata is a river port, not a sea-coast port. Tuticorin, not Chennai, is the southernmost major port.
'Asked' and 'not asked' are checked against every UPPCS question on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.