**Executive Summary**
This circular, dated April 29, 2025, from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, announces the recalculation of India's coastline length to 11098.81 kms. This change results from a revised methodology using 2011 Electronic Navigation Charts and GIS software, as per the report of the Survey of India. Stakeholders are asked to note the updated length for future references.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Updated Coastline Length:**
* The revised length of India's coastline is 11098.81 kms.
* The new length was accepted by the Coastal Protection and Development Advisory Committee (CPDAC) after concurrence from all coastal States and UTs.
* **Methodology:**
* The length was measured at the High-Water Line using 2011 Electronic Navigation Charts (ENCs).
* The datum and projection used is WGS-84 and respective UTM Zones.
* A scale of 1:250,000 or lesser using ENCs of NHO was used.
* The length of offshore islands connected to the mainland during low tide has been added.
* Peripheral coastline (High-Water Line) of individual offshore islands has been used for the calculation.
* **Reasons for Change:**
* The previous coastline length of 7516.6 kms, as per MHA records, was calculated using a smaller scale (1:4,500,000 or smaller) and conventional/manual methods.
* The revised length utilizes modern GIS software and a larger scale (1:250,000), capturing more intricate details.
* The updated calculation includes the length of offshore islands, which may have been omitted in the previous calculation.
* **Review Cycle:**
* The "Length of Coastline of India" will be reviewed every 10 years with newer datasets.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholders of MoPSW (as per list)**
**Impact:**
The stakeholders are affected by the change in the official measurement of India's coastline.
**Action Required:**
Stakeholders are required to update their records and references to reflect the new coastline length of 11098.81 kms in all relevant documents and activities.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways: The primary ministry issuing the circular, and thus responsible for the policy change regarding the length of India's coastline.
Survey of India: Department of Science and Technology. Responsible for the report that initiated the recalculation of India's coastline.
National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS): Organization where updated Terms of Reference (ToR) for the coastline measurement were finalized and where the revised coastline length was discussed and accepted.
Coastal Protection and Development Advisory Committee (CPDAC): Committee that deliberated on the length of India's coastline and eventually accepted the new length.
India: The location to which the coastline measurement applies.
MR-14011/1/2024-TR W (S)
Government of India
Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
Transport Research Wing
Room No. 102A, IDA Building
Jamnagar House, New Delhi- 110 011
Dated: 29" April, 2025
CIRCULAR
Subject: Change in length of coastline of India — reg.
Reference is invited to the report of Survey of India, Department of Science and
Technology (copy enclosed) vide which it is to inform that due to change in methodology of
calculation, the length of India’s coastline has been recalculated and is now 11098.81 kms.
ge”
(on
(Mohita Aswal)
Deputy Director (TRW)
Tel. 011-23385791
Email: mohita.saxena@gov.in
Encl: As above
To
All Stakeholders of MoPSW (As per list)SUB: LENGTH OF COASTLINE OF INDIA
Background Note
The ‘Length of Coastline of India’ as per MHA website is 7516.60 Km since the 1970s and
different govt departments have been using different figures for the coastline. The issue was
examined at BM-II Division, Department of Border Management, Ministry of Home Affairs,
New Delhi in 2019 wherein it was learnt that Coastal Protection and Development Advisory
Committee (CPDAC)has been deliberating on this issue since its 11" meeting in 2010. In its
16th meeting held on 16-7-2019, CPDAC accepted the new‘Length of Coastline of India’
computed by National Hydrographic Organisation (NHO), Dehra Dun as 11,084.50 Km
along with the methodology for its computation. This new ‘Length of
N
Coastline of India’ had
the concurrence of all Coastal States and UTs.Ministry of Home Affairs (Department of
Border Management) BM-II Division, New Delhi requested Survey of India (Sol) to publish
notification in this regard. Solobserved certain deviations in this ‘Length of Coastline of
India’ w.r.t to the accepted methodology and requested to finalise the Terms of Reference
(ToR) for Standardisation of Maritime Parameters.
Updated ToR were finalized at National Security Council Secretariat(NSCS), New Delhi
on 10-08-2023 which were unanimously accepted from stakeholders across different central
& state government department and ministries viz.Indian Coast Guard, Ministry of Home
Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry ofEnvironment Forest & Climate Change,
Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Jal Shakti, National Hydrographic Organisation,
National Remote Sensing Centre, Survey of India.Salient Terms of Reference (ToR) for
measuring Re-verified Length of Coastline of India (11,098.81 kms) are as mentioned below:
a. The length of coastline has been measured at the High-Water Line with base data of
2011 on Electronic Navigation Charts (ENCs) prepared by the National Hydrographic
Office (NHO).
b. The datum and projection for the coastline length is WGS-84 and respective UTM
Zones.
c. The scale has been generalised to 1:250,000 or lesser using ENCs of NHO
d. Mouth of the rivers, creeks, estuaries, backwaters, etc. have been closed at suitable
places by NHO and only segment of length closing of river mouth has been
considered.
e. The length of coastline of islands which get connected to mainland during low tide
conditions has also been added in the length of coastline.
f. The ‘Length of Coastline of India’ will be reviewed in a cycle of 10 years with newer
data sets.
The length of the coastline was re-assessed as 11,098.81 kms by NHO in coordination with
Sol as per the latest terms of references. Representatives of the coastal States/UTs and other
stakeholders deliberated on the re-verified coastline length during the discussion in the
meeting dated 04-01-2024 at National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), New Delhi.
CPDAC accepted the revised coastline length of India after obtaining concurrence from all
coastal States/UTs.
As discussed during the meeting held on 17-09-2024 under the Chairmanship of the Surveyor
General of India, it was decided that the probable reasons for the variation between the
existing coastline length i.e. 7516.6 kms as per the records of the Ministry of Home A ffairs
1|Page(MHA) and the re-verified coastline length i.e. 11098.81 kms must be outlined prior to the
publication of the updated length. This was unanimously endorsed by all stakeholders
participating in the meeting.
The main reason for the deviation in the existing coastline length of 7516.6 kms as per MHA
records and the re-verified coastline length of 1 1098.81 kms is due to theprobable variation in
scale and calculation methods. The length of coastline calculated in 1970s might have been
computed from the then available records at the scale of 1:4,500,000 or smaller whereas the
re-verified data has been computed at the scale of 1:250,000. It is understood that the length
of coastline is liable to vary when it is measured from maps of different scales. The larger the
scale of map greater may be the outcome of the length. This is because larger scale data
capture more intricate details like bays, inlets, and minor irregularities that are smoothed out
at smaller scale data. Further, conventional/ manual methods might have been used for the
computation of the 1970 data whereas modern GIS software have been used for the
computation of the re-verified data.The no. of offshore islands/islets of India are finalised as
1298 Offshore islands/islets (1059 islands and 239 islets) in the reconciliation exercise of the
offshore islands of India. Secondly,the length of offshore islands has been added in the total
length of there-verified coastline which might have been left out in the 1970s coastline length
due to scale constraint and conventional/ manual measuring methods. Further, peripheral
coastline(High-Water Line) of individual offshore islands has been used for the calculation of
coastline length.
Length of Coastline of India
The State-wise/UT-wise ‘Length of Coastline of India’ arehereby mentioned below.
SL.No. | State/Union Territory Coastline length (in Km)
1. Gujarat 2,340.62
2. Maharashtra 877.97
3x Goa 193.95
4. Karnataka 343.30
5. Kerala 600.15
6. Tamil Nadu 1,068.69
7. Andhra Pradesh 1,053.07
8. Odisha 574.71
9. West Bengal 721.02
10. Daman & Diu 54.38
si Pondicherry 42.65
12. Lakshadweep Islands 144.80
13. Andaman & Nicobar Islands 3,083.50
Total Length of Coastline of India 11,098.81
2|Page