The centre has notified four mega ports in the country, a first of its kind nomenclature for the sector. In a gazette notification issued Friday, the ministry of ports, shipping, and waterways listed major ports of Deendayal (Kandla), Jawaharlal Nehru (Nhava Sheva), and Paradip. Adani Group’s Mundra Port is the fourth, and only private sector owned asset, in this list.

Major ports are governed by the central government. The mega port status will be valid for five years. This is based on a July 30 gazette notification which defined the criteria for this categorisation.

A port annually registering 150 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT) of cargo throughput in the case of a bulk port or 7.5 Million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (MTEUs) in the case of a container port shall be considered for this status.