IGNORED for decades, India’s rivers and canals are today bustling with activity. India is laying the ground for a drastic upscaling of inland waterways – the kind that can power the country’s goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047.
In a big boost to cargo movement on waterways, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed recently between the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Amazon Seller Services. The MoU will provide a boost to transportation of customer shipments and products via inland waterways using National Waterway-1 on the Ganga.
The National Waterway-1, which runs from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal via Patna and Bhagalpur in Bihar across the Ganga, is the longest waterway in the country.
The IWAI is implementing the ambitious Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) on this waterway. The project includes the establishment of multimodal terminals at strategic locations, namely Varanasi, Sahibganj, and Haldia, along with the introduction of an intermodal terminal at Kalughat.
There are already indications that the Narendra Modi Government’s focus on inland waterways is bearing fruits. Cargo movement on national waterways surged 16 per cent in 2022-23. In 2014, there were only five waterways in the country, a number that in the past nine years has gone up to 111. This came after 106 waterways were declared national waterways under the National Waterways Act.
In 2015, the Modi Government had launched the Sagarmala initiative to enhance the performance of the country’s logistics sector with a special focus on inland waterways and infrastructure development along India’s vast coastline. As part of this initiative, the Government has taken up 113 projects worth Rs 7,030 crore related to inland water transport. Out of these, 15 projects worth Rs 1,100 crore have been completed and 32 projects worth Rs 3,900 crore are under implementation.
In October, during the Global Maritime India Summit, PM Modi had launched the Amrit Kaal Vision 2047. As per this vision document, India should increase its inland water transport volume to 500 MMT by 2047. At present, the inland water transport volume stands at 126 MMT. By 2030, the Government plans to take this figure to well over 300 MMT.
The Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 document also outlines the need to increase the number of operational waterways to 23 by 2030, and to take the number to more than 50 by 2047. To achieve these goals, India is eyeing an investment of Rs 35,000 crore by 2047 to create a network of waterways in the country.
India aims to emerge as a big blue economy on the global map in the years to come. For that to happen, major investments must be made in the country’s maritime sector – not just for facilitating greater international trade, but also turning around the domestic logistics network.
With inland waterways playing a greater role in cargo transportation, India’s maritime economy will be strengthened. The development of such waterways will also boost regional tourism. The cumulative impact will be that the maritime economy will propel India to emerge as a developed nation by 2047. After all, there is hardly any developed nation in the world that does not have a robust inland waterways system in place.
