Nhava Sheva is located on the Konkan mainland across from the island city of Mumbai. Spread over 10 square kilometres (2,500 acres), it was developed to relieve pressure on Mumbai Port. It was inaugurated on May 26, 1989. It is one of the largest ports in the world.
Construction of Nhava Sheva port was originally planned in 1965. The original plan envisioned the port for use to import food grains, since India then faced a major food shortfall. Following the Green Revolution in India, India gained vast surplus food grain production capacity. So the plans for the port shifted focus to container traffic. Nhava Sheva port is run by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, an autonomous corporation wholly owned by the Government of India. The port was created to relieve pressure on Mumbai Port, then the pre-eminent port of India. It also enabled importers to avoid the octroi tax levied on goods entering Mumbai city by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, since it falls outside the jurisdiction of the municipal corporation. A ferry service operates between Nhava Sheva and the GAteway of India in downtown Mumbai. The Central Industrial Security Force is responsible for security of the port.
Nhava Sheva is well connected to major highways and rail networks in India. The closest suburban railheads are CBD Belapur and Panvel. The port handles 65% of India's container traffic has an average berthing  period of 37 hours which is considered very long. The expansion plans for the port, include extensive new terminal access points and connecting roads.
Major exports from Nhava Sheva are textiles, sporting goods, carpets, textile machinery, boneless meat, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The main imports are chemicals, machinery, plastics, electrical machinery, vegetable oils and aluminium and other non-ferrous metals.
