New Delhi [India], Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Inland Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday visited the Noida head office of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). During his visit, Sonowal was briefed on the status of the country's 111 national waterways and how inland waterways are emerging as a sustainable mode of transportation to complement roads and railways.
During the interaction at IWAI, the minister unveiled a five-year action plan to develop new national waterways, emphasizing river cruising through targeted campaigns and events to boost tourism. He highlighted the collaboration with the North Eastern Region (NER) states, with a robust mechanism in place to ensure effective implementation of the CSS project.
According to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, while interacting with senior officials of IWAI, the minister emphasized the need to develop national waterways across the country and significantly increase the movement of passengers and goods on the waterways.Sonowal lauded the efforts made to promote river cruise tourism in the country and recent initiatives such as the introduction of hybrid electric catamarans and the country's first hydrogen vessel.
Also, the minister reviewed the progress of the World Bank-funded Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) on National Waterway (NW) 1 – Ganga River.
The Authority is improving waterway infrastructure by constructing multimodal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia, and an intermodal terminal at Kalughat to facilitate cargo movement and improve connectivity. IWAI is also installing community jetties to benefit the communities residing along the banks of the Ganges River. "MoPSW is committed to developing a robust inland water transport system. By improving India's national waterways, MoPSW and IWAI together aim to boost economic growth and ensure efficient and sustainable transport options for the nation, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a 'New India' with world-class infrastructure," Sonowal said.
Addressing human resource issues, the minister discussed overcoming challenges on the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and proposed innovative solutions to accelerate Inland Water Transport (IWT) work in Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, leveraging technology and interstate cooperation to improve. national infrastructure.
Sonowal also assessed the interventions being made by the Authority to promote IWT activities in the North Eastern region, especially National Waterways 2, 16 and 31 i.e. Brahmaputra, Barak and Dhansiri rivers in Assam. Initiatives to improve regional connectivity with neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar were also evaluated. New technological advancements made by IWAI to improve navigation were also presented to the Union Minister. This included initiatives such as PANI (Navigation Asset and Information Portal), RIS (River Information System), CAR-D for the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of cargo and cruise movement data, as well as future projects such as the Central Database and National River Traffic and Navigation System, among others.
As a symbol of growth and prosperity, Sonowal also planted a sapling in the IWAI premises.
Notably, cargo movement on domestic waterways has increased to over 133 million tonnes, registering a CAGR growth of 22.1 percent over ten years from FY2014 to FY2024. IWAI aims to increase the modal share of freight movement through IWT of 2 percent. to 5 per cent and traffic volume to over 200 million tonnes in line with Maritime India Vision 2030 and over 500 million tonnes by 2047 as per Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.The two vision documents formulated by The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways aim to greatly promote inland waterway transport, ensuring a sustainable complementary mode of transport in the country.
To enable inland waterways as conduits of economic growth and trade in the country, an investment of Rs 45,000 crore has been planned for the development of river cruise tourism in the country. Of this ambitious sum, it is estimated that Rs 35,000 million has been allocated for cruises and another Rs 10,000 million for developing the infrastructure of the cruise terminal at the end of Amrit Kaal, that is, by 2047.
To expand inland waterways for cargo trade, an investment of Rs 15,200 crore came to India's Global Maritime Summit (GMIS) held in Mumbai in October 2023. This is likely to register a growth rate of more than 400 percent, increasing the volume up to 500 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2047. With the Harit Nauka Guidelines, the MoPSW has put forward a strong commitment to promote passenger transport through waterways in a sustainable and environmentally friendly by promoting the adoption of low emission systems. fuel (CNG/LNG/electric/hydrogen/methanol) as propulsion fuel for inland vessel operations (Green Vessels).
During the interaction at IWAI, the minister unveiled a five-year action plan to develop new national waterways, emphasizing river cruising through targeted campaigns and events to boost tourism. He highlighted the collaboration with the North Eastern Region (NER) states, with a robust mechanism in place to ensure effective implementation of the CSS project.
According to the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, while interacting with senior officials of IWAI, the minister emphasized the need to develop national waterways across the country and significantly increase the movement of passengers and goods on the waterways.Sonowal lauded the efforts made to promote river cruise tourism in the country and recent initiatives such as the introduction of hybrid electric catamarans and the country's first hydrogen vessel.
Also, the minister reviewed the progress of the World Bank-funded Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) on National Waterway (NW) 1 – Ganga River.
The Authority is improving waterway infrastructure by constructing multimodal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia, and an intermodal terminal at Kalughat to facilitate cargo movement and improve connectivity. IWAI is also installing community jetties to benefit the communities residing along the banks of the Ganges River. "MoPSW is committed to developing a robust inland water transport system. By improving India's national waterways, MoPSW and IWAI together aim to boost economic growth and ensure efficient and sustainable transport options for the nation, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a 'New India' with world-class infrastructure," Sonowal said.
Addressing human resource issues, the minister discussed overcoming challenges on the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and proposed innovative solutions to accelerate Inland Water Transport (IWT) work in Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat, leveraging technology and interstate cooperation to improve. national infrastructure.
Sonowal also assessed the interventions being made by the Authority to promote IWT activities in the North Eastern region, especially National Waterways 2, 16 and 31 i.e. Brahmaputra, Barak and Dhansiri rivers in Assam. Initiatives to improve regional connectivity with neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar were also evaluated. New technological advancements made by IWAI to improve navigation were also presented to the Union Minister. This included initiatives such as PANI (Navigation Asset and Information Portal), RIS (River Information System), CAR-D for the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of cargo and cruise movement data, as well as future projects such as the Central Database and National River Traffic and Navigation System, among others.
As a symbol of growth and prosperity, Sonowal also planted a sapling in the IWAI premises.
Notably, cargo movement on domestic waterways has increased to over 133 million tonnes, registering a CAGR growth of 22.1 percent over ten years from FY2014 to FY2024. IWAI aims to increase the modal share of freight movement through IWT of 2 percent. to 5 per cent and traffic volume to over 200 million tonnes in line with Maritime India Vision 2030 and over 500 million tonnes by 2047 as per Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.The two vision documents formulated by The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways aim to greatly promote inland waterway transport, ensuring a sustainable complementary mode of transport in the country.
To enable inland waterways as conduits of economic growth and trade in the country, an investment of Rs 45,000 crore has been planned for the development of river cruise tourism in the country. Of this ambitious sum, it is estimated that Rs 35,000 million has been allocated for cruises and another Rs 10,000 million for developing the infrastructure of the cruise terminal at the end of Amrit Kaal, that is, by 2047.
To expand inland waterways for cargo trade, an investment of Rs 15,200 crore came to India's Global Maritime Summit (GMIS) held in Mumbai in October 2023. This is likely to register a growth rate of more than 400 percent, increasing the volume up to 500 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2047. With the Harit Nauka Guidelines, the MoPSW has put forward a strong commitment to promote passenger transport through waterways in a sustainable and environmentally friendly by promoting the adoption of low emission systems. fuel (CNG/LNG/electric/hydrogen/methanol) as propulsion fuel for inland vessel operations (Green Vessels).
