Gyaan 🧞‍♂️

India’s Inland Waterways: The Flow of Future Transport

Discover India’s inland waterways growth-record cargo, green transport, Jalvahak incentives & expanding National Waterways.

Pratik Kamble

22 Aug 2025 — 2 min read

India’s Inland Waterways

India’s rivers and canals are quietly transforming into highways of the future. In 2025, inland waterways are not just about boats, they're about reducing traffic, cutting emissions, and unlocking regional economies. Let’s journey through this evolving network.

1. Cargo Boom: A Riverine Revolution

In fiscal year 2024-25, cargo transported via inland waterways hit a record 145.5 million metric tonnes, up from just 18.1 MMT in 2013-14, a near 8× surge and a decade-long CAGR of 20.86%.
Key commodities, coal, iron ore, sand, and fly ash-made up about 68% of this volume. Passenger traffic also rose to 1.61 crore in 2023-24.

2. Infrastructure Boom: Navigating National Waterways

Under the National Waterways Act, the number of declared waterways climbed from 5 to 111, while operational waterways numbered 29, expanding navigable length from 2,716 km to 4,894 km.
Infrastructure investments of ₹6,434 crore since 2014 have funded multi-modal terminals, floating jetties, community docks, and digital systems like LADIS and RIS.

3. Jalvahak Scheme: Fuel for the Waterway Engine

Launched in December 2024, the Jalvahak scheme offers up to 35% reimbursement on operating costs for cargo movement on key waterways (NW-1, 2 & 16), including the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.
It also introduced fixed scheduled cargo services and extended a favorable tonnage tax regime to inland vessels.
Targets: boost waterborne cargo to 200 MMT by 2030, and 500 MMT by 2047 under Maritime India Vision 2030 and Amrit Kaal 2047.

4. Regional Revival: Corridors of Growth

In Assam, the launch of National Waterway-57 (Kopili River) marked a big step forward, with a cargo trial moving 300 tonnes of cement over 300 km. Its success signals renewed promise for Northeast logistics.
Kerala greenlit a 500-metric tonne barge project for KSINC, built to modern safety standards under the Inland Vessel Act 2021, to support growth in FACT, linked freight operations.
As part of logistics integration, a cargo vessel carrying cement and putty was flagged off between Varanasi and Sahibganj, expanding multi-modal trade and reducing dependency on roads.
Andhra Pradesh plans to ramp up cargo movement from 8 to 14 million tonnes using waterways like the Bandar Canal, targeting industrial growth through river-based logistics.

5. Green & Cost-Effective Transport

Inland waterways cut CO₂ emissions drastically: 32-36g CO₂/t-km, compared to 51-91g for road transport.
Transport by waterways costs just ₹0.25-0.30 per tonne-km, versus ₹1 by rail and ₹1.5 by road.

Conclusion

India’s inland waterways are now more than rivers, they’re economic corridors of tomorrow. With record-breaking cargo movement, infrastructure modernization, powerful incentives, and regional revival, the waterways are emerging as green arteries in a rapidly modernizing nation. The future of freight is flowing strong.