New Delhi, April 15 (IANS) The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has achieved a record-breaking 145.5 million tonnes of cargo movement on the country’s national waterways during the fiscal year 2024-25, according to a statement issued on Tuesday.
The all-time high cargo movement has come along with the total number of operational waterways increasing from 24 to 29 during the year, said the statement issued by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
Cargo traffic on National Waterways has increased from 18.10 MMT to 145.5 MMT between FY-14 and FY-25, recording a compound annual growth (CAGR) of 20.86 per cent.
In FY-25, traffic movement registered a growth of 9.34 per cent year-on-year from FY-24. Five commodities, including coal, iron ore, iron ore fines, sand and fly ash, constituted over 68 per cent of the total cargo moved on national waterways (NWs) during the year.
In the last few years, several proactive policy measures and infrastructure initiatives have been taken to streamline cargo movement on NWs, such as the Jalvahak scheme, the statement said.
The scheme promotes a modal shift of cargo from other modes to inland water transport by incentivising cargo owners and movers to the extent of 35 per cent of the total actual operating expenditure incurred on the waterways journey. To give further push to the scheme, scheduled cargo services were made operational on NW-1, NW-2, and NW-16 via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol. This scheme is expected to divert 800 million tonne-kilometres of cargo to the IWT mode, accounting for nearly 17 per cent of the current 4,700 million tonne-kilometres of cargo on National Waterways.
The National Waterways (Construction of Jetties/Terminals) Regulations, 2025 encourage private sector investment in the development of inland terminals on National Waterways, optimising the use of India’s extensive waterways network. Private, public, and joint venture entities can develop jetties/terminals across the country by obtaining a simplified no-objection certificate (NOC) from IWAI through a digital portal.
Other Initiatives to boost cargo movement include the development of fairways to ensure the least available depth and smooth navigation. End-to-end dredging contracts have been issued for various identified stretches on national waterways.
Introduction of Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) and Ro-Pax services on various National Waterways has also helped to promote traffic.
Besides, the implementation of digital solutions like the CAR-D portal and the PANI portal for ease of doing business, Central database for registration of vessel and crew (Jalyaan and Navic) to promote digitisation, Naudarshika (National River Traffic and Navigation System) for safety and smooth operations of inland vessels has played an important role.
Adequate waterways infrastructure, including IWT terminals, night navigation facility, and navigational locks, is being developed along NWs. These initiatives are expected to boost the growth of cargo movement through National Waterways, promoting a more efficient and sustainable mode of transportation, the statement added.
–IANS
sps/uk
Disclaimer
The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by BhaskarLive.in and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.
In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of BhaskarLive.in We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, BhaskarLive.in takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.
For any legal details or query please visit original source link given with news or click on Go to Source.
Our translation service aims to offer the most accurate translation possible and we rarely experience any issues with news post. However, as the translation is carried out by third part tool there is a possibility for error to cause the occasional inaccuracy. We therefore require you to accept this disclaimer before confirming any translation news with us.
If you are not willing to accept this disclaimer then we recommend reading news post in its original language.
