India Ports Face Inland Logistics Bottlenecks Despite Capacity Growth

A new FICCI-Kearney report reveals that while India's ports have significantly improved operational efficiency and capacity utilization over the past decade, the real bottlenecks now lie in inland logistics coordination, customs procedures, and last-mile connectivity rather than berth or crane capacity. Between FY2017-18 and FY2025-26, cargo volume grew 38 percent while port capacity expanded 22 percent, but the utilization rate indicates considerable headroom remains. However, the National Time Release Study found that 84 percent of measured export time (approximately 158 hours out of 190 total hours) occurs after customs approval, highlighting severe coordination failures in the post-clearance supply chain.

The report emphasizes that India's maritime competitiveness now depends on developing differentiated gateway strategies by 2030 across four categories: container gateways, transshipment hubs, industrial and energy gateways, and specialized export corridors. A critical weakness is transshipment capacity, with 75 percent of India's transshipment containers still routed through overseas ports as of May 2025, despite the recent commissioning of Vizhinjam's deepwater terminal. This structural limitation affects India's ability to compete with regional hubs like Singapore and Dubai.

The recommendations include creating designated coordinators for each gateway, aligning road and rail investments with actual cargo flows rather than aspirational volumes, and using shipment data to pinpoint where costs accumulate. Supply chain professionals should recognize that port modernization alone cannot unlock India's export potential; success requires coordinated development of inland transport networks, logistics ecosystems, and digital systems for border clearance.