Question

How many ports are there in Andhra Pradesh?
A. 10
B. 15
C. 20
D. 25

Answer 1

Hint: Andhra Pradesh has the second longest coastline in India. The coastline stretches about 974km in he eastern peninsular India, which accounts for about 12% of the country’s total coastline with one major (operational) and 14 non - major (5 operational) ports.

Complete answer: Almost all manufactured goods and raw materials are transported from one country to the other through sea ports. The pre-bifurcation Andhra Pradesh government focused extensively on the Hyderabad-centric development of IT, pharmacy and manufacturing sectors, and overlooked the potential offered by the vast 940 km coastline. In 2014, the successor state left with one major port - Visakhapatnam, and though 14 non-major ports were notified, only 4 of them, Kakinada, Gangavaram, Krishnapatnam and Ravva were operational. In 2013-14, the Visakhapatnam Port and the non-major ports handled cargo of 59 and 58.94 MT respectively. Visakhapatnam port stood fourth in India, together handling 12.25% of the total cargo moved through the sea in India. The state has three deep draft ports - Visakhapatnam Port, Krishnapatnam Port and Gangavaram Port which can attract bulk cargo. Apart from having one of the main cargo ports of India, Visakhapatnam, the State has the deepest draft port, Gangavaram Port. The State

Therefore, from the above discussion it can be seen that there are one major port and 14 non-major ports in Andhra Pradesh, that sums up to 15 ports. Hence, the correct option is option B, 15.

Note: The Union Shipping Ministry along with the state government is recently getting indications of constructing another major port in the state. The Shipping Ministry of Andhra Pradesh will also be drafting port policy measures for the ten years period, which included providing greater autonomy and corporatisation to the major port of the state.