The London and India Docks Company was formed when the London and St Katharine Dock Company acquired the East and West India Docks Company follow a period of 10 years of operating as a joint committee. This new company aim to eliminate a great deal of the competition that had harmed the profitability of the two companies and enable a more efficient handling of cargo. The new company took over responsibility on 1st January 1901.

Despite this amalgamation there was still a great deal of inefficiency caused by the competition between the remaining companies which threatened to force trade to other ports. This led to the creation of a Royal Commission on the Administration of the Port of London in 1902 which recommended the creation of an authority to control all of London’s docks. This was objected to by the dock companies and ran into difficulties surrounding its nature, either commercial or municipal, which greatly delayed action being taken. The lack of progress not only dissuaded companies from undertaking improvements but also led to the London and India Docks Company proposing its own solution, in the form of a 1906 proposal merge with the Millwall Dock Company. This was not successful though as in the next year the government put forward the Port of London Bill which proposed a self-supporting authority under the guidance of the Board of Trade and passed the next year. This created the Port of London Authority which assumed control on 31st March 1909.