Which of the following ports was developed as a Satellite port to relieve the pressure at the Mumbai port?

Correct — D. Jawaharlal Nehru Port, at Nhava Sheva on the mainland side of Mumbai harbour, was built across the water from Mumbai Port to take the traffic the old docks could no longer handle.

It was commissioned on 26 May 1989 and absorbed the containerised cargo, leaving Mumbai Port with older bulk and break-bulk trade.

A satellite port is a new port built to serve and relieve an existing one, and option (d) is the standard Indian example of it.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Marmagao Port — Marmagao is in Goa, on the Zuari estuary, and grew as an iron-ore export port. It serves its own hinterland, not Mumbai's overflow.
• (b)
  New Mangalore Port — New Mangalore is on the Karnataka coast, hundreds of kilometres south, and handles the trade of its own region.
• (c)
  Deendayal Port Authority — Deendayal Port — Kandla before it was renamed — lies in the Gulf of Kachchh in Gujarat, developed after Partition to serve the north-western hinterland that had used Karachi.

A satellite port is a new facility built near a congested port to absorb its overflow, usually with deeper water and room for container handling the old site cannot offer.

Mumbai Port sits in a crowded island city with limited draught and no land to expand. Jawaharlal Nehru Port, on the other side of the same harbour, supplied deep berths and container yards.

India's major ports are administered by the Centre. The Major Port Authorities Act, 2021 converted the old port trusts into port authorities, which is why option (c) is printed as Deendayal Port Authority.

Key facts

• Jawaharlal Nehru Port was commissioned on 26 May 1989 at Nhava Sheva in Navi Mumbai.
• It was developed as a satellite port to relieve congestion at Mumbai Port.
• Kandla Port in Gujarat was renamed Deendayal Port in 2017.
• The Major Port Authorities Act, 2021 replaced India's major port trusts with port authorities.

Common traps

• Reading satellite port as a small fishing harbour rather than a purpose-built overflow port
• Assuming Deendayal Port is in Maharashtra because the option carries the modern Authority wording

No directly related past PYQ was found.