The country doesn't yet have a fully functional transhipment hub, so international container traffic must first call at hubs in Sri Lanka, Singapore or Dubai. Strict cabotage rules restrict subsequent coastal container shipping to Indian-flagged and crewed vessels. Red tape abounds amongst regional jurisdictions.
Many of the older Indian ports are shallow and congested, limiting the country's growth potential. A vessel can wait outside port for considerable time, and at Chennai it can take trucks a full day to cover the last 10 kilometers of their journey as they enter the port.
