About 95 per cent of India's trade by volume and 68 per cent in terms of value is transported by sea. As on 31 January 2013, India had a fleet strength of 1158 ships with GT of 10.45 million, with the public-sector Shipping Corporation of India ( SCI) having the largest share of 32.60 per cent. Of this, 356 ships with 9.37 million GT cater to India's overseas trade and the rest to coastal trade. The gross foreign exchange earnings/savings of Indian ships in 2011-12 was about 10,666.45 crore. India was ranked 8th among the developing countries in terms of container ship operations with 9.95 million twenty foot equivalent units of container (TEUs), with a world share of 1.74 per cent. India is one of the major ship-breaking destinations as well.
The Indian national maritime agenda drafted aims for an expansion of total port traffic from current 800 million tonnes (MT) to about 2, 500 MT by 2020. India is to invest Rs 73, 793.95 crore (US$ 13.71 billion) for development of various projects in the shipping sector during the 12th Five year plan. According to the plan, the annual capacity of major ports would expand to 1229.24 MT by the end of March, 2017. Cargo traffic at major ports in India stood at 44.2 MT in November 2012 while export cargo volumes stood at 13.7 MT.
Iron ore traffic at major Indian ports increased by over 100 per cent in December 2012. A total of 1.89 MT iron ore was shipped out of 11 major Indian ports in December 2012, up from 907,000 tonne in November, as per the Indian Port Association data. The shipping ministry intends to achieve a capacity of 3, 200 MT at Indian ports by 2020 and around 2, 600 MT of it all is planned by 2016-17. Cargo traffic at major Indian ports is expected to grow by 4 per cent in 2013-14, according to a study by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Cargo traffic handled by major ports is anticipated to increase to 568.5 MT in 2013-14 from the 546.4 MT estimated for 2012-13.
INDIAN SHIPPING INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE IN 2012 - 2013 