Lok Sabha Question No. 2804 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-17
Subject: Economic Progress through Waterways
Ministry: PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS
Asked by: Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING  AND WATERWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2804

ANSWERED  ON'17 I O3I2O23

## ECONOMIC PROGRESS THROUGH WATERWAYS

2804. SHRIMATI RANJANBEN DHANANJAY BHATT:

Will the Minister of PORTS, SHIPPtNG-  AND WATERWAYS  be pteased  to state: w-q, *cqft+f< BfuEi-dcFf  i-fi

- (a) whether the Government proposes  to promote  economic  progress  through
- watemays and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government  has taken any steps in this regard; and
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons  therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF PORTS, SHIPPING  AND WATERWAYS (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)

- (a) lnland Water Transport  (lWT) is the most economical mode of transportation, especially for bulk cargo like coal, iron ore, cement,  food grains and fertilizer.  Presently, it remains under utilized at a share of 2% in lndia's modal mix. Government  intends to increase  the share of IWT to 5% as per Maritime lndia Vision (MlV)-2030. Various economic  and environmental  benefits  of IWT in comparison  to road and rail transport are detailed  at Annex.-l .

Further, development work under Jal Marg Vikas Project-ll (Arth Ganga)  has been initiated which is based  on the principles  of the sustainable development model to energize economic activities  which will lead to inclusive  growth and play a key role in improving  the livelihoods of the  population  with the transportation  of goods  and passengers (including tourist) through National Watenvays No. 1(River Ganga).

- (b)&(c)  Steps  taken  for groMh  of cargo transportation on waterways  are detailed at

An nex.-2

## Annex.-1

## The Socio-economic and environmental benefits of IWT Mode:

## 1. Cheaper  operating cost and relatively lesser fuel consumption

| Factors considered     | Rates Considered   | Rates Considered   | Rates Considered   | Source                                            |
|------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|---------------------------------------------------|
| Factors considered     | Waterways          | Road               | Rail               | Source                                            |
| Energy Consumption     | 0.0048 LitreffKm   | 0.0313 LitreffKm   | 0.0089 Litre/TKm   | 1'1'n Plan Working Group Report on Shipping & IWT |
| Vehicle Operating Cost | 0.843 Rs./TKm      | 1.170 Rs./TKm      | 1.009 Rs./TKm      | Plann ing Commission : TTS Study                  |

## 2. Less polluting mode of transportation

| Factors considered       | Rates Considered (Rs./TKm)   | Rates Considered (Rs./TKm)   | Rates Considered (Rs./TKm)   | Source                                                               |
|--------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Factors considered       | Waterways                    | Road                         | Rail                         | Source                                                               |
| Air Pollution            | 0.03                         | 0.202                        | 0.0366                       | Planning Commission : TTS Study                                      |
| Noise Pollution          | Negligible                   | 0.0032                       | 0.00'12                      | Permanent lnternational Association of Navigation Congresses (PIANC) |
| Soil and Water Pollution | Negligible                   | 0.005                        | Negligible                   | PIANC                                                                |

## 3. Lesser requirement of land relative to other modes of transportation

| Factor             | Rates Considered (Rs/TKm)   | Rates Considered (Rs/TKm)   | Rates Considered (Rs/TKm)   | Source   |
|--------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|----------|
| considered         | Waterways                   | Road                        | Rail                        | Source   |
| Surface occupation | Negligible                  | 0.0002                      | 0.0001                      | PIANC    |

## 4. More environment friendly mode of transportation

| Factor considered   | Rates Considered (Rs/TKm)   | Rates Considered (Rs/TKm)   | Rates Considered (Rs/TKm)   | Source               |
|---------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|-----------------------------|----------------------|
|                     | Wateruvays                  | Road                        | Ra il                       |                      |
| Emission of GHGs    | 0.0006                      | 0.0031                      | 0.0006                      | th 12 Five Year Plan |

## 1. INITIATIVES FOR GROWTH OF TRAFFIC ON NATIONAL  WATERWAYS

## i. Fairwav development  works:

Fainruay  development works to ensure Least Available  Depth (LAD) of 3.0 meter in Haldia-Barh, 2.5 meter in Barh-Ghazipur  and2.2 meter in Ghazipur-Varanasi  stretches on NW-1 are progressing under the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) which has been undertaken by lWAl with technical  and financial assistance  from World Bank. Similarly, to improve the connectivity  between NW-1 and NW-2/NW-16  via the lndo Bangladesh protocol route, the critical and shallow stretches between Sirajganj and Daikhowa  on protocol  route No.l & 2 and Ashuganj and Zakiganj on protocol  rote no 3 & 4 in Bangladesh  are being  jointly  developed by lndia and Bangladesh  for round the year navigability  (with targeted  LAD of 2.5 mtrs). Similarly,  fairway development  works are being carried out on NW-97 in Sunderbans to allow smooth navigation of vessels on the lndo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.

## ii. Development of New National Waterwavs-

lWAl has identified 25 new NWs through techno-economic  feasibility studies for undertaking technical interventions  to make the waterways  navigable for transportation purpose.  Once ready, these new wateruays will provide an alternate  mode of transportation in respective geographies.

## iii. Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax  Service  Commenced  in Various National Wateruvavs-

The Operation of Ro-Ro  / Ro-Pax vessels inaugurated by Hon'ble Prime Minster during February  2021 lor the following routes:

| Vessel Name                               | Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax Services between           | Date of lnauguration by Hon'ble Prime Minister   |
|-------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| MV Rani Gaidinliu & MV Sachin Deve Barman | Neamati and Kamalabari (Majuli)         | 18.02.2021                                       |
| MV JFR Jacob                              | Guwahati and North Guwahati             | 18.02.2021                                       |
| MV Bob Khathing                           | Dhubri and Fakirganj (U/S Hatsingima r) | 18.02.2021                                       |
| MV Adi Shankara & MV C.V. Raman           | Wellingdon lsland and Bolghaty          | 14.02.2021                                       |

## iv. Revision  of Levv & Collection of Fees:

Taking ahead the vision of the Government of lndia to promote  lnland Wateruays as a supplementary  mode of transport,  the Ministry of Ports, Shipping  and WateMays has considered  waiver of waterway user charges initially for a period of three years.

## An nex-2

## 2, DIGITAL SOLUTIONS  FOR EASE-OF.DOING  BUSINESS

- . CAR-D (Cargo Data) Portal: CAR-D is a web based portal for collection  & compilation, analysis and dissemination  of all cargo and cruise movement  data of National  Waterways to the stakeholders.
- . PANI (Portal for Asset & Navigation lnformation):  PANI is an integrated  solution brining river navigation and infrastructure information on a single platform.

It  provides  detailed information of various  features  of National Waterways  and the assets such as fairway,  infrastructure  facilities, cross-river structures, connectivity  at jetties,  emergency services  for facilitating transportation of cargo.

These solutions  increase collaboration  across divergent  stakeholders,  improve organizational consistency,  increased  resource  agility, enhances ownership and accountability  for each stakeholder leading to improved  management  of activities.  By having  public  access to key work being done by lWAl for the sector,  will enhance lWAl's standing in the market and will increase trust in the sector.

## 3. Enhanced regional trade using IWT mode:

a. Addition of new Ports of Call and routes in lndia and Bangladesh under PIWT&T: With 7 new ports of call in addition to existing 6 on each side along with addition/ extension  of 2 wateruay  routes in addition to existing  I routes under PIWT&T between  lndia and Bangladesh, the accessibility of IWT mode for trade between  lndia and Bangladesh is expected to increase  and result in growth of traffic on NWs.

b. Trade between Bhutan and Bangladesh: Stone exporters from Bhutan have identified  lnland waterways  as an alternate  mode of transportation  considering the benefits associated with waterways  mode such as lower transportation cost, larger shipment size compared to road, avoiding congestion on land routes etc. The first movement under supervision of lWAl was successfully  executed  in July 2019. This trade using the IWT mode is expected to continue and reach a significant  scale in the coming years.

## 4. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)  for facilitating the Stakeholders to use lnland Water Transport and access the various  information  related to National Waterways

The list of Standard  Operating  Procedures (SOPs)  for various National Waterways which are available at lWAl website is as given below:

i. Standard  Operating Procedures  (SOP)  of the Agreement  on the use of Chattogram and Mongla Ports for movement of goods to and from lndia between the Government  of the People's Republic  of Bangladesh and the Government of Republic of lndia.

ii. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of MoU on Passenger and Cruise Services  on the Coastal  and Protocol  Route  between the Government  of the People's  Republic of Bangladesh and the Government of Republic  of lndia.

iii. Standard Operating  Procedures  (SOP) for the MoU on use of lnland Waterways  for Transportation of Bilateral Trade and Transit cargoes between  the Government of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Government of Republic of lndia.

iv. Standard Operating  Procedures  (SOP) for the Movement of Vessels  on Protocol on lnland Water  Transit and Trade (PIWT&T) to contain the spread of COV|D19.

v. Standard  Operating Procedures  (SOP) and Check List for Ro-Ro  / Ro-Pax  vessel operations  on National  Watennrays.

vi. Standard Operating  Procedures (SOP)  for Car-D Portal.

5. Stakeholder consultations:  lWAl carried  out stakeholder consultations  at six different locations (Kolkata,  Kochi, Mumbai, Patna, Goa and Dhaka) in FY-20,9nos. during FY-21 and 06 nos. conference-cum-webinars  in FY22 for cargo promotion.

The Waterways  Conclave was held at Dibrugarh on 1 1th & 1 2ihApril, 2022. The event was attended by 4 neighboring countries and12 waterway connected states for promotion  of WateMay.

The 1tt lncredible  lndia lnternational  Cruise Conference  2022 was organized  by at Mumbai on  '14-15  May,2022. The Sessions relating to Potential of River Cruising was organized  by lWAl wherein leading  cruise operators had participated.  These interactions helped in promotlng  wateMays as a mode of transportation and understanding expectations  and feedback of stakeholders.  lWAl is undertaking targeted initiatives  to address the expectation and feedback received to further enhance traffic on NWs.

- o PM GatiShakti Multimodal  Waterway Connectivity Summit  held in Varanasi from 11th -121h November 2022 attended  by Hon'ble Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (PSW), Hon'ble Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh, Hon'ble Union Minister of Commerce,  Hon'ble Ministers-  PSW. This summit focussed on creating more awareness  about the PM GatiShakti  and 07 community  jetties were inaugurated, and foundation stones laid for 08 community  jetties  on the Ganga.
- . Flagging off of world's longest  river cruise and wateruays development projects inaugurated  and foundation stone was laid online  by Hon'ble Prime Minister in the presence  of Hon'ble  Minister PSW, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh on 13th January 2023 al Varanasi.
6. lnterventions under the World Bank supported JMVP-ll (Arth Ganga) project  for the socio-economic  up liftment of the population  living around river Ganga i.e. NW-1:

JMVP-ll (Arth Ganga) has been initiated on an approach  based on the principles of the sustainable  development  model to energize economic activities which will impact on overall over all ecosystem along  the riverbank.

This can lead to inclusive groMh and play  a  key role in improving the

livelihoods of  the  populations  with the transportation of  goods and passengers (including  tourist) through National Waterways  No. 1. The projects envisaged at a total cost of Rs. 746.00 cr.