PERSPECTIVES
Inland Water Transport - Charting the Uncharted Inland Waterways is a highly underutilized mode of freight transportation and is overwhelmed by road and rail modes of transportation. But this mode is being positioned as part of India’s larger infrastructure and logistics-focused policies. BY AMSHIKA BRIGIT GEORGE
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reight movement in India is highly skewed in favour of road transport (60%), while inland waterways and coastal movement of cargo remain in the nascent stage (ADB, 2020). But there have been efforts to promote Inland Water Transport (IWT) in the 111 waterways (declared as NWs under the National Waterways Act, 2016), from which 25 NWs have been determined to be technically and economically feasible through Detailed Project Reports (DPRs). Inland Waterways Authority of India has set a five-year vision to develop IWT as a self-sustaining, economical, safe, and environmentfriendly supplementary mode of transport to achieve the larger growth goals of the economy. It aims to increase the share of IWT from the current figure of 2% to 2.5% in bulk and containerized cargo shipment. As part of the
Maritime India Vision 2030, IWAI aims to operationalize 23 waterways by enhancing terminal and allied infrastructure, navigational aids, and RIS provisioning. Development of the terminal will also include creation of concrete/ steel, and floating platoon jetties on specific circuits for river cruise tourism. The vision also includes development of more than 10 Ro-Ro terminals and ferry terminal development in over 60
BULK CARGO TRANSPORT VIA WATERWAYS OF COAL, FLY-ASH & ORE IS ECONOMICAL AND ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY
18 | India Business & Trade • Apr-May, 2022
locations with state government collaborations. Ample opportunities have been identified by IWAI to allow for greater collaboration with private players, thereby opening the doors wider for IWT. Bulk cargo transport through waterways of coal, fly-ash, and iron ore are economical, environment friendly, and less polluting than Road and Rail modes of transport. As on date, 15 NWs are operational, 7 projects are in appraisal stage, development of 2 NWs has been taken up as per the State Financial Corporation (SFC) directives for FY 2021 to FY 2025, and development of 1 NW has been taken up with technical and investment support from World Bank. MULTI-MODAL APPROACH In a bid to herald in a new age for Multi-Modal Connectivity, PM Narendra Modi launched
