The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways reached a significant milestone in cargo movement on National Waterways. For the fiscal year 2024-25, IWAI has successfully achieved record-breaking 145.5 million tonnes of cargo movement, marking an all-time high in the IWT sector. Along with this, the total number of operational waterways has gone up from 24 to 29 during the year.
Cargo traffic on National Waterways has increased from 18.10 MMT to 145.5 MMT between FY-14 and FY-25, recording a CAGR of 20.86%. In FY-25, traffic movement registered a growth of 9.34% year-on-year from FY-24. Five commodities i.e. coal, iron ore, iron ore fines, sand and fly ash constituted over 68% of total cargo moved on NWs during the year.
The growth in cargo movement on national waterways is noteworthy. In the last few years, several pro-active policy measures and infrastructure initiatives have been taken to streamline cargo movement on NWs.
Launched in December last year, the Jalvahak scheme promotes modal shift of cargo from other modes to IWT by incentivising cargo owners and movers to the extent of 35% of the total actual operating expenditure incurred on 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-kilometers of cargo to the IWT mode, accounting for nearly 17% of the current 4,700 million tonne-kilometers 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, optimizing 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.
Fairway Development Works: Development of fairways to ensure least available depth and smooth navigation. End-to-end dredging contracts have been issued for various identified stretches on national waterways.
Implementation of digital solutions like CAR-D portal and 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 Navigational System) for safety and smooth operations of inland vessels.
Besides, adequate waterways infrastructure including like IWT terminals, night navigation facility, navigational locks are 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.
With the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the guidance of Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal, IWAI is committed towards developing waterways as a robust engine of growth. The Authority is expanding its footprint throughout the country, working extensively towards capacity augmentation of NW-1, NW-2, NW-3, and NW-16 among other waterways. The growth in cargo movement on national waterways is a clear indicator that the steps taken by IWAI are yielding positive results and will help in making IWT a preferred and reliable mode of transportation in the long run.
