Registers all time high of 145.5 MT

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 (NW).

For the fiscal year 2024-25, IWAI achieved a record-breaking 145.5 million tonnes of cargo movement, marking an all-time high in the IWT sector said an official release from the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways.

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.

Jalvahak – Cargo Promotion Scheme

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.

Digital Portal for getting NOCs to set up IWT structures on NWs. 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.

Some of the Other Initiatives to boost cargo movement include 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, Introduction of Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) and Ro-Pax services on various National Waterways.