Lifelines of National Economy
Waterways and ports
Name India's National Waterways and major ports and what each is known for.
Waterways: the cheapest way. Indian sailors have traded across the seas since ancient times. Water transport is the cheapest, best for heavy, bulky goods, uses little fuel and is kind to the environment. India has 14,500 km of waterways that boats can use. The National Waterways Act, 2016 declared 111 of them National Waterways.
The first five National Waterways.
- NW 1: the Ganga, Prayagraj to Haldia (1620 km).
- NW 2: the Brahmaputra, Sadiya to Dhubri (891 km).
- NW 3: the West-Coast Canal in Kerala (205 km).
- NW 4: parts of the Godavari and Krishna, with the Kakinada-Puducherry canals (1078 km).
- NW 5: the Brahmani, Matai and Mahanadi delta channels, with the East Coast Canal (588 km).
Boats also carry a lot on the Mandavi, Zuari and Cumberjua, in the Sunderbans, on the Barak and in Kerala's backwaters.
Ports: India's doors to the world. 95 per cent of India's trade by volume (68 per cent by value) goes by sea. The coastline is 11098.81 km long, with 12 major ports and about 200 smaller ones.
West coast, north to south.
- Deendayal (Kandla), Kuchchh: the first port built after Independence. Partition gave Karachi to Pakistan, so Kandla was built to take the load off Mumbai. It is a tidal port, serving the rich farm and industry belt from Jammu and Kashmir to Gujarat.
- Mumbai: the biggest port, with a large, sheltered natural harbour.
- Jawaharlal Nehru port: built to ease the crowding at Mumbai.
- Mormugao (Goa): the top iron ore exporter, about half of India's iron ore exports.
- New Mangalore (Karnataka): exports iron ore from Kudremukh.
- Kochi: a natural harbour where a lagoon meets the sea.
East coast, south to north.
- V.O. Chidambaranar (Tuticorin), Tamil Nadu: a natural harbour; trades with Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
- Chennai: one of the oldest man-made ports; second to Mumbai in trade.
- Vishakhapatnam: the deepest landlocked, well-protected port, first planned for iron ore exports.
- Paradwip (Odisha): specialises in iron ore exports.
- Shyama Prasad Mookerjee port, Kolkata: an inland river port serving the huge Ganga-Brahmaputra basin. Being tidal, the Hugli must be dredged (dug out) all the time. Haldia was built to share its load.
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