Inland Waterways

Context (PIB): The Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways chaired the First Inland Waterways Development Council Meeting, organized by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).

Outcomes in the Council

‘Harit Nauka’ Guidelines and ‘River Cruise Tourism Roadmap 2047’ were launched.
The Ministry has set a bold objective to elevate the modal share of Inland Water Transportation (IWT) from the current 2% to 5%, aligning with the goals outlined in Maritime India Vision 2030.
The Ministry also aims to substantially increase the existing IWT cargo volume from approximately 120 MTPA (millions of tonnes per annum) to over 500 MTPA.

The council was established in October 2023.
Objective: Comprehensive development of inland waterways and Inland Water Transport (IWT) ecosystem for improved cargo efficiency, passenger movement, and river cruise tourism.

It is a ten-year blueprint for the maritime sector (released in 2020).
The vision projects cargo traffic to reach 2,570 mtpa by 2030.
It will supersede the Sagarmala initiative.
Objective: To boost waterways, boost the shipbuilding industry and encourage cruise tourism.
It emphasizes ‘Make in India, Make for the world’.
Provides for setting up a Maritime Development Fund for enhancing cruise infrastructure by developing dedicated cruise terminals at 12 selected ports.
It will create a Waterways Connectivity Transport Grid that will enhance connectivity with Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar.

It is an autonomous organization established in 1986 under the Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985.
It is responsible for regulating & developing inland waterways for shipping & navigation.
It undertakes development and maintenance projects of IWT infrastructure on national waterways through grants from the Shipping Ministry.
Headquarters: Noida, UP.
It also has regional offices in various other cities and towns across the country.

Inland waterways are navigable water bodies located within the boundaries of a country, typically away from coastal areas.
India has about 14500 kilometres of navigable waterways. Despite this, Inland waterways remain underutilized at a share of 2% in India’s modal mix, compared to 35% in Bangladesh.
The National Waterways Act, 2016, has identified 111 navigable water courses and declared them “national inland waterways”.

Cost-effective: According to WB, inland waterways in India are 60% cheaper than road transport and 20-30% cheaper than rail transport.
Fuel efficiency: Its energy consumption per km/ton of transported goods is approximately 17% of that of road transport and 50% of rail transport.

Being labor-intensive in nature, it can create employment for personnel for river conservancy & development activities, operation & maintenance of terminals, manning inland vessels, etc.
Ecologically sustainable: A study by the World Bank found that inland water transport emits 10 times less carbon dioxide per ton-kilometer compared to road transport in India.
Other advantages: Does away with the tiring land acquisition process, leads to the development of tourism along the waterways, and provides boost to associated industries like shipbuilding.

Navigational hazards like shallow waters and narrow width of the channel during dry weather, siltation, bank erosion, absence of infrastructure facilities like terminals & inadequacy of navigational aids.
Environmental concerns: Dredging activities, construction of barrages, and channelization of rivers, which can impact the ecological balance, water quality, and aquatic life in the surrounding areas.
Limited intermodal connectivity between inland waterways, roads, and railways restricts seamless movement of cargo and passengers, hindering the full potential of multimodal transport.
Issues of Inter-state coordination in jurisdiction, regulations, taxation, & administrative procedures.
Water variability: Diversion of water for irrigation, industrial and other needs reducing the flows in the rivers resulting in the reduction of depth and shoal formation.
Excessive silt loads from erosion of uplands due to bad catchment management and increased deforestation.
Inadequate vertical and horizontal clearances for plying vessels of economic size in many traditional waterway routes.
Lack of adequate terminal facilities at the loading and unloading points being non-existent and where existent being inadequate.
Other issues: Challenges associated with land acquisition for infrastructure development, resettlement and compensation, lukewarm private sector participation, & lack of waterways governance framework.

Infrastructure development by developing terminals, jetties, and navigation aids, and ensuring proper dredging and maintenance of waterways.
Integration with Multi-Modal Transport like roads, railways, and coastal shipping. E.g. Multimodal terminal at Varanasi, connecting National Waterway 1 with the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor has been developed.
Revival/operationalization of obsolete jetties to attract private sector participation.
Moratorium on levy and collection of waterway usage charges for initial period of 3 years.
Design of low-cost and shallow-draft vessels and introduction of navigational aids for improving the economics of IWT.
Smaller floating jetties to be monetized through manning contracts.