Port of Kolkata

Port of Kolkata কলকাতা বন্দর
A container ship–MV Chana Bhum–barthed at Berth No. 3 of Netaji Subhas Dock
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Location
Country	India
Location	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Coordinates	22°32′46″N 88°18′53″E / 22.54611°N 88.31472°E / 22.54611; 88.31472
UN/LOCODE	INCCU[1]
Details
Opened	1870; 154 years ago (1870)
Operated by	Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port Authority
Owned by	Syama Prasad Mukherjee Port Authority, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India
Type of harbour	Coastal breakwater, riverine, large seaport
Size	4,500 acres (18 km2)[2]
No. of berths	34 (Kolkata)[3] 17 (Haldia)[4]
No. of wharfs	86
Draft depth	Kolkata: 8.5 metres (28 ft) Haldia: 9 metres (30 ft)
Employees	3,600[2]
Main trades	Automobiles, motorcycles and general industrial cargo including iron ore, granite, coal, fertilizers, petroleum products, and containers Major exports: Iron ore, leather, cotton textiles Major imports: Wheat, raw cotton, machinery, iron & steel
Stacking area	134722 sqm
Water depth	12.5 metres (41 ft) (KDS and HDC)
Statistics
Vessel arrivals	3670 (2017–18)[5][6]
Annual cargo tonnage	66.4 million tonnes(2023–24)[7][8]
Annual container volume	844,762 (2019–20)[9][10]TEUs[11]
Passenger traffic	1,049 (2022–23)[12]
Annual revenue	₹29.85 billion (US$360 million) (2022–23)[13][14][15]
Net income	₹5.01 billion (US$60 million) (2023–24)[7][13][16]
Website www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in

Port of Kolkata or Kolkata Port (Bengali: কলকাতা বন্দর), officially known as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (formerly Kolkata Port Trust or Port of Calcutta), is the only riverine major port in India,^[17] in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, around 203 kilometres (126 mi) from the sea.^[18] It is the oldest operating port in India^[19] and was constructed by the British East India Company.^[20] Kolkata is a freshwater port with no variation in salinity.^[21] The port has two distinct dock systems – Kolkata Dock at Kolkata and a deep water dock at Haldia Dock Complex, Haldia.

In the 19th century, the Kolkata Port was the premier port in British India. From 1838 to 1917, the British used this port to ship off over half a million Indians from all over India – mostly from the Bhojpur and Awadh — and take them to places across the world, such as Latin America and Africa as indentured labourers. After independence, the port's importance decreased because of factors including the Partition of Bengal (1947), reduction in the size of the port hinterland, and economic stagnation in eastern India.

It has a vast hinterland comprising the entire North East of India including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, North East Hill States and two landlocked neighbouring countries namely, Nepal and Bhutan and also the Autonomous Region of Tibet (China). With the turn of the 21st century, the volume of throughput has again started increasing steadily. As of March 2018, the port is capable of processing annually 650,000 containers, mostly from Nepal, Bhutan, and India's northeastern states.^[20]