Shipping from India to Lithuania and Latvia: ports, transit times and the details that matter

India is one of the fastest-growing sources of containers for Baltic importers: home textiles and garments, natural stone and ceramic tiles, steel and engineering goods, chemicals, auto parts and food products. The lane is well served by major carriers, but India has its own geography, and the port you ship from makes a real difference to time and cost.

Choose the port by the factory, not the other way round

India's container trade runs through three coasts. In our current offers, these ports have regular connections to Klaipėda and Riga:

• West coast: Nhava Sheva (JNPT, for Mumbai and Pune), Mundra, Pipavav and Hazira (for Gujarat and North India)
• South: Chennai, Kattupalli, Krishnapatnam, Tuticorin and Cochin
• East: Kolkata and Visakhapatnam

Much of North India's cargo — including the Delhi region — is first moved by rail from an inland container depot (ICD) to a west-coast port, usually Mundra or Nhava Sheva. That inland leg can add several days, so ask your supplier where the container will actually be stuffed and which port it will sail from.

Realistic transit times

From the main Indian ports, carriers currently quote about 45–65 days port-to-port to Klaipėda or Riga. West-coast ports with direct services to North Europe are usually at the shorter end; southern and eastern ports, which often connect via a hub such as Colombo or Singapore, take longer. Containers continue from a North European hub — Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Bremerhaven or Gdańsk — on a feeder vessel to the Baltic. As on other Asia–Europe lanes, routings around the Cape of Good Hope add time compared with pre-2024 schedules.

Two details that cost money if you miss them

• Free days at destination can be short. Some offers on this lane include as little as 7 free days for demurrage and detention. If customs clearance or unloading is slow, charges start quickly — check free time before booking, not after arrival.
• Heavy 20' containers carry surcharges. Stone, tiles, steel and other dense cargo often reach the weight where carriers add a heavy-cargo surcharge — in current offers typically from 14–18 tonnes, with higher steps above about 23 tonnes. Plan the load with this in mind and check road weight limits for delivery after the port.

Documents and duty

Indian shipments need the usual set — commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading — plus certificates for some goods (for example phytosanitary certificates for plant products, or certificates of origin). Whether reduced import duty applies depends on the HS code and the origin documents your supplier provides, so check this before the goods are shipped. See our shipping documents guide and Incoterms 2020 guide.

Also in the region: Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh

Karachi, Colombo and Chittagong also have regular connections to Klaipėda and Riga, with carriers currently quoting about 40–70 days port-to-port depending on the port and service. Colombo is a major transshipment hub for the whole region, so it is often the faster of the three.

The return leg: exports from the Baltics to India

The lane works in both directions. Carriers offer regular services from Klaipėda to Nhava Sheva and Chennai, as well as to Karachi and Colombo, with current transit of about 45–60 days to India. For Baltic exporters this is worth knowing: if you already import from India, combining both directions with one forwarder makes equipment and documents easier to plan.

How Cargo 4S helps

We compare current offers from several carriers for your exact port pair, show transit time, free days and surcharges side by side, and follow the container through every transshipment to delivery. A dedicated logistics expert checks weights and documents before the box leaves India — the cheapest way to avoid demurrage and surprise surcharges.