India’s Non-Hormuz Imports Surge, Ports See Record Cargo Handling

Unlike ports on India’s west coast, those on the east coast – owing to their strategic location – have been navigating the prevailing tensions by rerouting cargo to other transhipment destinations. 

In March and April, shipments of crude oil scheduled from Persian Gulf countries were replaced with Russian crude.

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL), which is a major importer of crude, had scheduled three shipments to West Asia. They were called off following escalating tensions in the region. It was compensated with Russian crude in March, officials involved in the matter said.

From a broader perspective, the real shift in India’s crude import goes even beyond Russia. It is diversification away from a single source.

“India’s energy diversification story is often told through the Russia lens — and while that pivot was dramatic, it misses the bigger picture. The real shift is in the breadth of India’s crude basket. Non-Hormuz sourcing has climbed from 55% to 70% of total imports amid the West Asia conflict. This is not opportunism — this is architecture,” Mitali Nikore, Founder & Chief Economist, Nikore Associates, told The Secretariat.

India has quietly built one of the most diversified crude import baskets among major Asian economies

— Mitali Nikore, Founder & Chief Economist, Nikore Associates

US President Donald Trump's pricing policy, which directly affects maritime trade due to high punitive tariffs, has forced exporters to rethink their trade priorities. 

Tensions In The Strait Of Hormuz

Moreover, the intense tensions in the Strait of Hormuz further dented maritime trade prospects for Indian exporters, disrupting international shipping and oil transport. 

Yet, India's east coast ports have demonstrated resilience.

Cargo containing barytes (a mineral used primarily as a weighting agent in oil and gas drilling), which was meant to be exported to West Asia, has been slated for China. 

"The advantage with ports on the east coast is that it is easier for them to redirect shipments bound for the West Asia region," a port official told The Secretariat. "Ports on the west coast, including the Pipavav Port and Mundra Port, were directly affected by the war," the official said. 

Overall, major Indian ports have clocked 915 million tonnes of cargo traffic in the past year, according to official data. 

In 2025-26, the Chennai Port recorded 1.94 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo, marking a milestone in container handling at one of the oldest and largest container ports on India’s east coast. This surpassed the port’s own record of handling 1.82 million TEUs in 2024-25.

Similarly, the Jawaharlal Nehru (JN) Port in Navi Mumbai registered massive cargo handling by surpassing 8 million TEUs in 2025-26. This was a significant increase from the 7.30 million TEUs of container traffic at the JN Port the previous year.

Speaking on the strategic interventions undertaken to achieve this milestone, an official from the JN Port highlighted that it was achieved through coordinated efforts between stakeholders and the port authorities, increasing storage capacity within the port premises, and facilitating 100% waiver on ground rent/dwell time charges for up to 15 days (February 28–March 14) for eligible containers.

Even under normal circumstances, this would have been no easy feat. And today's geopolitical landscape is anything but normal. The Israel-Iran conflict has torn the West Asia region, disrupting maritime trade and reshaping global dynamics. 

Shifting Maritime Trade Dynamics

At the centre of India’s maritime trade dynamics is diversification. Following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, India’s exporters turned to premier global transshipment hubs to redirect shipments to other parts of the globe, particularly Europe.

According to officials, the Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, which is a major global transshipment hub, provided the much-needed momentum for Indian shipments that were stuck in the aftermath of the global crisis.

Even though shipments to the Jebel Ali Port saw a decline of about 4,000 TEUs — an immediate impact of the West Asia crisis — it nevertheless sustained the trade momentum for India, serving as a pivotal transshipment point for cargo bound for Europe.

According to Nikore, India has deliberately spread its exposure across geographies, corridors, and price mechanisms. “The uncomfortable truth, however, is that diversification of sources has not reduced dependence on imports, which now stands at nearly 88.5%. So, the next frontier isn’t just who we buy from, but how quickly we can build domestic production, strategic reserves, and renewable alternatives to reduce how much we need to buy at all,” she says.