--> 90% of Indian trade uses sea route as the mode of transport 
              -> In 2005-06, the Indian ports handled 569 million tonnes of cargo

• --> India’s major trading partners are European Union, United States of America, Japan and China
  
  Trends in the recent past show India’s growing trade especially in dry bulk cargo traffic with China and ASIAN countries, leading to a substantial increase of cargo from the East Coast

Ports offer tremendous potential for development and growth of a wide spectrum of maritime activities such as international shipping, coastal shipping, ship repairs, fishing, ship breaking, captive ports for specific industries, all weather ports, tourism and sports etc.

The minor ports of Andhra Pradesh Port Department handled 38 Million Tonnes of cargo during 2007 and is the 2 nd highest cargo handling state in Union India.

The A.P. State has prepared a perspective development plan for development of ports according to which 173 million tonnes of cargo be programmed to handle by 2020.