Efficiency Appraisal of Indian Major Ports Using Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

The seaport infrastructure has gained tremendous importance with the rising volume of international trade in the era of globalization. As the majority of international merchandise trade is handled by seaports, an efficient seaport infrastructure provides comparative advantages to the nation in global market. The efficiency of seaports considerably relies on their capacity to utilize the available resources in an optimal manner. Therefore, the systematic appraisal of seaport efficiency can reveal their relative positions in the competitive environment. Since 1990’s, India emphasized on international trade oriented growth, necessitating efficient port infrastructure. !s majority of India's international trade in volume is handled by seaports, the efficiency of seaport sector becomes the prime matter of concern for policy makers. This paper applies Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) for efficiency appraisal of Indian Major Ports. As a feedback to the port operations in India, this paper supplements existing studies by deriving relative efficiency estimates of 12 major ports of India and identifying sources of inefficiency at relatively inefficient 5 major ports of India.