Port represents a collection of physical facilities and services designed to serve as an interchange point between land and sea transport. It is a single organizational unit with multi-dimensional activities integrated within the logistics chains for providing services to maritime trade.
In India there are 12 major ports and around 181 minor and intermediate ports, which handles more than 300 million tonnes of cargo per annum. The port sector has witnessed large-scale investment through government and private sector for modernisation programme.
In the new era of liberalisation and privatisation, functionality of ports is changing from their traditional role as an organisation in charge of all port activities to become a coordinator of these activities. High degree of competition has resulted into reduction of excess labour, aggravated by the trend towards intensive investment of capital at seaports through private sector participation.