Gujarat has the longest
mainland coastline in India.
The total length of India’s
coastline is 7516.6 kilometers. Of this, mainland coastline length is 5422.6
kilometers whereas Island territories coastline length is 2094 kilometers.
States/UTs having coastlines are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Daman and Diu, Karnataka,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. Island
territories having coastlines are – Andaman & Nicobar Islands and
Lakshadweep Islands.
The Arabian Sea gives the state
of Gujarat its extensive coastline. The 1214.7 kilometers long coastline of
Gujarat, which is approximately 23% of the country’s total mainland coastline,
makes it the state with the longest mainland coastline. In total there are 41
ports located along the Gujarat coastline – one major port (Kandla), 11
intermediate ports and 29 minor ports. By volume of cargo it handles, Kandla is
the largest port of India. Apart from Kandla, other important ports are –
Navlakhi, Porbandar, Mundra etc.
Andhra Pradesh has the
second longest mainland coastline with a total length of 974 kilometers. Its
coastal stretch extends between Ichchapuram of Srikakulam District to Tada of
Nellore District. Despite having such a long coastline, Andhra Pradesh has only
12 ports. Vishakhapatnam is the major port of East Coast. Krishnapatnam is
another major port of the state. Machilipatnam, Kakinada and Gangavaram are
other ports of Andhra Pradesh.
With 906.9-kilometer-long
coastline, Tamil Nadu is the third biggest mainland coastline state. Although
the state has a total of 15 ports, three of those ports are major seaports –
Chennai, Ennore, Tuticorin. Chennai port is an artificial harbor and India’s
second busiest container hub after Nhava Sheva. Nagapattinam is another
important port of the state.
State of Maharashtra has
a coastline of 652.6 kilometers only but has more than 50 ports including two
major ports – Mumbai Port and Jawahar Lal Nehru Port (Nhava Sheva). Mumbai port
– a natural deep water harbor – has been acting as one of the major gateways of
India for more than a century. Nhava Sheva is the premier container handling
port of the country accounting for approximately 55% of the container traffic.
Other ports of the state are – Trombay, Tarapur, Dharamtar, Ratnagiri and
Dahanu.
If we talk about the Island
territory coastline, Andaman & Nicobar Island has a total coastline of 1962
kilometers. The capital city – Port Blair – is the main port of the island.
