MUMBAI — The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) announced Wednesday that India's principal container seaport handled a record 7.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) of cargo in 2024, a 22% increase from the previous year's 5.9 million TEU — the single largest year-on-year jump in the port's 35-year history.
The record comes on the back of significant infrastructure investments, including the commissioning of a new automated container terminal built by APM Terminals, which has doubled the port's handling capacity and reduced average vessel turnaround time from 44 hours to 26 hours.
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Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal called the milestone "a testament to India's emergence as a global trade powerhouse" and announced that the government would fast-track approval for two additional berths at JNPT to further increase capacity to 10 million TEU by 2027.
The port's success is part of the broader Sagarmala Programme, which has invested ₹6 lakh crore in port modernisation, coastal roads, and inland waterways since 2016. India's overall merchandise exports in 2024 crossed $800 billion for the first time, aided by the improved port infrastructure.