"Ports & Shipping" in India is the regulatory and developmental framework for the country's maritime trade, overseen by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. The sector's legal foundation was the colonial-era Indian Ports Act, 1908, which was enacted to consolidate and amend laws relating to ports and port charges, creating a unified legal framework for administration and operation. This Act defined the powers of the Central and State Governments over major and minor ports, respectively.
The governance model has undergone two major recent reforms. The Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, was repealed and replaced by the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021, which received the President's assent on February 17, 2021. This Act governs the 12 operational Major Ports, vesting administration in the Boards of Major Port Authorities. The key mechanism is the decentralisation of power, granting Boards autonomy to fix tariffs and raise loans, thereby reorienting the governance to the 'landlord port model'. The Act also replaced the tariff-setting role of the erstwhile Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP). Furthermore, the Indian Ports Act, 1908, was replaced by the Indian Ports Act, 2025, which decentralised power to State Maritime Boards for non-major ports and aligned the framework with international maritime conventions.
The concept connects directly to the Sagarmala Programme, a flagship scheme launched in March 2015. Sagarmala is a port-led development initiative aimed at reducing logistics costs by modernizing ports, improving connectivity through multimodal transport, and promoting coastal shipping. The sector's development is guided by the broader Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.