Parliament Question: Ease of doing business at ports

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3671 ANSWERED ON 24.03.2026 EASE OF DOING BUSINESS AT PORTS 3671. DR. SASMIT PATRA: Will the Minister of PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has assessed procedural and regulatory bottlenecks faced by exporters, importers and shipping lines at major and non-major ports that affect ease of doing business and if so, the details thereof; (b) the average dwell time of cargo and vessel turnaround time at major ports during the last five years, port-wise, and the comparison with global benchmarks; (c) the steps taken under initiatives such as 'One Nation, One Port Process' to reduce documentation, digitise clearances and standardise procedures across ports; and (d) the Corrective measures that Government is taking to resolve delays in port clearances, customs processes or cargo evacuation, etc.? ANSWER MINISTER OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL) (a) to (e) Yes, the Government has assessed procedural and regulatory bottlenecks affecting exporters, importers, and shipping lines, and addressed them through various legislative reforms such as enactment of Indian Ports Act 2025, Merchant Shipping Act 2025, Coastal Shipping Act 2025, Carriage of Goods by Sea Act, 2025, Bills of Lading Act, 2025, process reform such as One Nation One Port Process (ONOP) and streamlining of processes through digitalization such as Maritime Single Window for digital clearance and documentation.In addition, the Government has also taken various measures such as the construction of new berths, terminals, parking plazas, mechanization/ modernization/ optimization of existing berths and terminals, expansion of hinterland connectivity through rail and road, elimination of manual Forms, facilitation of Direct Port Delivery and Entry, installation of Container Scanners, e-delivery orders/ invoice/payments, RFID-based Gate Automation System, etc. to resolve delays in port clearances, customs processes or cargo evacuation, and improve the efficiency of major ports.The following steps have been taken under ONOP to reduce documentation, digitize clearances and standardize procedures across ports: (i) Workshops with Immigration, Port Health Organisation (PHO), and Port Authorities conducted tostandardize transactions/documentation for vessel and cargo related processes, resulting in transaction reduction for Immigration, PHO and Port Authority. (ii) Vessel, container, and bulk cargo processes were re-engineered by eliminating redundancies and enhancing IT-based standardization, in consultation with Port Authorities and terminal operators. (iii) Clearances digitized through unifiedMaritime Single Windowreducing the mandatory documents for Vessel Profile registration and Vessel Call Number generation. As per the Container Port Performance Index 2024, published by World Bank, average container turnaround time of India was 28.5 hrs. for container vessel call size of 1,501- 2,000 TEU category, which is comparable to China (27.5 hrs), Singapore (30 hrs), UAE (45.7 hrs), Netherlands (47.3 hrs), USA (51.1 hrs) and Australia (55.9 hrs) in the similar category. As per the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2023 published by the World Bank, the export dwell time export of India was 110.4 hours, which is better than China (117.6 hrs), Australia (127.2 hrs), UAE (129.6 hrs), Netherlands (134.4 hrs), and USA (196.8 hrs) and the import dwell time was 62.4 hours, which is better than Singapore (72.0 hrs), Australia (76.8 hrs), UAE (105.6 hrs), China (132 hrs), Sri Lanka (136.8 hrs), USA (172.8 hrs), and Netherlands (172.8 hours). The average container dwell time and overall vessel turnaround time at major ports during the last five years, port-wise, are at Annexure I & II respectively.Annexure I Average Container Dwell Time during 2020-21 to 2024-25 (in hours) 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Ports Import Export Import Export Import Export Import Export Import Export Syama Prasad Mookerjee 127.2 201.6 98.4 187.2 96 172.8 100.89 191.8 86 161 Port Authority Paradip Port 163.2 193.92 307.2 160.56 145.68 155.76 121.92 136.8 127.2 139.2 Authority Visakhapatna m Port 91.2 14.6 117.6 129.6 91.2 103.2 88.8 108 132 103.2 Authority Kamarajar Port 76.32 88.56 54.24 106.08 54.96 101.76 56.88 111.6 74.4 131.28 Limited Chennai Port 48.57 90.67 39.4 67.3 32.7 67.9 60.72 95.28 46.58 90.07 authority V.O.Chidamba ranar Port 23.06 74.68 21.6 68.88 24 63.12 25.92 56.4 28.32 67.68 Authority Cochin Port 134.64 140.64 76.32 95.52 85.92 88.08 89.04 81.12 88.36 88.16 Authority New Mangalore 209.28 300.72 224.4 212.4 108.96 139.68 78.4 86.4 79.3 90.3 Port Authority Mormugoa 271.14 208.28 205.29 164.41 134.41 191.97 * * * * Port Authority Jawaharlal Nehru Port 24.6 74.8 20.9 77.9 22.6 72.5 19.7 70.8 24.6 76.1 Authority Mumbai Port 159.36 161.76 105.36 107.28 85.68 381.6 * * 54.24 * Authority Deendayal Port 96 168 120 144 103.2 142.8 97.22 112.32 80.88 125.04 authority *containers not handledAnnexure II Overall Vessel turnaround time during 2020-21 to 2024-25 (in hours) Overall Average turnaround time Ports 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 Syama Prasad Mookerjee 74.79 56.08 56.01 60.85 57.37 Port Authority Paradip Port Authority 58.10 53.16 46.27 41.61 46.16 Visakhapatnam Port 66.09 73.83 73.19 65.86 69.19 Authority Kamarajar Port Limited 42.97 46.38 45.40 44.37 46.66 Chennai Port authority 51.38 53.19 48.22 44.92 48.69 V.O.Chidambaranar Port 46.08 48.48 46.80 51.36 55.44 Authority Cochin Port Authority 35.83 34.64 33.41 33.4 32.41 New Mangalore Port 45.89 45.99 43.09 40.44 40.37 Authority Mormugoa Port 75.66 71.77 61.47 65.61 69.68 Authority Jawaharlal Nehru Port 28.56 28.08 28.47 26 26.35 Authority Mumbai Port Authority 59.07 73.00 67.42 62.97 65.75 Deendayal Port authority 67.92 60.96 77.28 54.24 58.56 *****