Kandla and Adani Ports

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GS-3 Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways, etc

Context: The country’s two largest ports, the Kandla and the Adani in Gujarat, were put on high alert along with the entire Gulf of Kutch after intelligence agencies shared inputs of a possible entry by Pakistan-trained commandos through the ‘Harami Naala’ creek to carry out underwater attacks. However, the alerts turned out to be “precautionary” in nature.

In this respect the information and location of the Kandla and Adani ports become important.

KANDLA PORT-

• Kandla port's started in 1931 with the development of a jetty by Maharao Khengarji. Progressively, this port in Gujarat turned into the number one port in India.
• Kandla port was constructed in the 1950s as the main seaport to serve in western India, after the partition of Pakistan from India. The Port is located on the Gulf of Kutch on the northwestern coast of India some 256 nautical miles southeast of the Port of Karachi in Pakistan and over 430 nautical miles north-northwest of the Port of Mumbai (Bombay).
• The Kandla port, which now renamed as the Deendayal Port Trust is a seaport in the Kutch District of Gujarat state in western India, near the city of Gandhidham.
• Located on the Gulf of Kutch, it is one of the major ports on the west coast.
• Kandla port is the largest port of India by volume of cargo it handles.

ADANI PORT

• Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ) is India’s largest private multi-port operator. APSEZ is a part of the Adani Group, an integrated infrastructure corporation. The company (earlier known as Mundra Port & Special Economic Zone Ltd) changed its name to “Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited” on January 6, 2012.
• While earlier the company had one operational port at Mundra, it today operates across eight ports in India and is currently constructing a transshipment hub in Kerala.

OTHER MAJOR PORTS