India’s second busiest port and the largest state-owned port by volumes handled, Kandla, in Gujarat’s Kutch district, has run into infrastructural constraints. The body operating the Kandla port, Deendayal Port Authority, handled 137.56 million tonnes of cargo in Financial Year 2023 compared to 127.10 million tonnes the previous year, thus recording a growth of 8.23 per cent.
Around 70 per cent of shipments handled at Kandla are evacuated by road, 20 per cent through the pipeline, and 10 per cent by rail. The port should double its cargo to 267 million tonnes by 2030 at an annual CAGR of 10 per cent. India should clock USD 1 trillion in product exports by that year, and the seaports will play a key role in this growth trajectory. Kandla and Mundra, the largest public and private ports in the Kutch district, clock 20 per cent of the national cargo volumes, 1,500 metric tonnes shipped by sea. At present, the Kandla port connects to the hinterland via NH-27, NH-41, and NH-8A.
Two of the country’s largest ports cannot have logistical disadvantages. Hence, the government needs to strengthen the road infrastructure and improve connectivity to support traffic growth. The new highway between Gandhidham and Maliya will enhance connectivity between Kandla and the rest of the nation. This will be a ₹5,250 crores project and around 35 kilometres shorter than the existing Gandhidham-Maliya link via Bhachau, Samakhiyali and Surajbari. It will lead to about ₹1,200 crores of fuel savings and forex savings of around $160 million annually. It will also help reduce logistic costs, achieve net zero emissions, and guard against natural calamities or a war-like situation with India’s neighbouring countries.
Vis-a-vis the rail infrastructure, the doubling and electrification of the Ahmedabad-Gandhidham line and the Palanpur-Gandhidham line are coming up. Kutch is also coming up as Asia’s largest timber market, a special economic zone, significant industries in steel, cement, chemicals, minerals, salt, and oil, and demands an airport upgrade to meet people’s demands. The current runway at Kandla airport can handle only an ATR aircraft. Jacobs Solutions Consultancy has been hired for the upgradation work by the Chamber.
