Lok Sabha Question No. 266 (STARRED), answered on 2024-12-13
Subject: Freight Transportation through Inland Waterways
Ministry: PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS
Asked by: Smt. Sajda Ahmed, Shri Dilip Saikia

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS

## LOKSABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *266

ANSWERED ON 13.12.2024

## FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION THROUGH INLAND WATERWAYS

*266.SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

SMT. SAJDA AHMED:

## Will the Minister of PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS be pleased to state: पȅन , पोत पįरवहन और जलमागŊ मंũी

(a) the details of the progress made in freight transportation through inland waterways and whether there has been any significant increase in the same during the last ten years; (b) the steps taken by the Government to enhance inland water connectivity across the country to facilitate faster movement of goods; (c) the development projects being implemented in the field of freight/cargo transportation through waterways in the North-Eastern States of the country including Assam along with number of new waterways added during the last ten years; and (d)  the  details  of  present  status,  cost  incurred  and  total fund  allocation made for  said

- projects till date?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (d)A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *266 FOR 13.12.2024 RAISED BY SHRI DILIP SAIKIA AND SMT. SAJDA AHMED, REGARDING 'FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION THROUGH INLAND WATERWAYS'

- (a) Significant  progress  has  been  made  in  freight  transportation  through  inland waterways  during  last  ten  years.  Cargo  movement  on  National  Waterways  has increased from 18.10 million ton in 2013-14 to 133.03 million-ton in 2023-24, recording a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.1%. The number of operational National Waterways has increased from 5 in 2014 to 26 in 2024.
- (b)The  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  increase  cargo  movement  through  the National  Waterways  through  infrastructure  and  policy  measures  to  enhance  inland water connectivity are at Annexure-1.
- (c)& (d) The  details of major  development  projects  undertaken  in  the  field  of freight/cargo  transportation  through  waterways  in  the  North  -  Eastern  States  of  the country  including  Assam,  total  fund  allocation,  cost  incurred  and  present  status  are given in Annexure-2 . In addition, details of project approved/undertaken under Central Sector Scheme (CSS) for development of inland water transport infrastructure in North Eastern States is given at Annexure-3. Till  2016, there  were 5 National Waterways in the country. In 2016, 106 New NWs were added through the National Waterways Act 2016 taking the tally to 111 NWs. There was only one NW in NER till 2016. Presently, there are 20 NWs in NER.

## Steps taken by the Government to increase cargo movement through the National Waterways indicating the infrastructure and policy measures:

- (a) Infrastructure measures:
- (i)  Fairway  maintenance  works  (river training,  maintenance  dredging,  channel marking  and  regular  hydrographic  surveys)  are  taken  up  in  various  National Waterways (NWs) for providing a navigation channel of 35/45 m width and 2.0 / 2.2 / 2.5 / 3.0 m least available depth (LAD) for operation of vessels.
- (ii) 49 community jetties, 20 floating terminals, 3 Multi-Modal Terminals (MMTs) and 1 Inter-Modal Terminal (IMT) have been constructed on NW-1 (River Ganga).
- (iii) 12 floating terminals provided on NW-2 (River Brahmaputra) along with one MMT at  Pandu  and  permanent  terminals  atJogighopa,Bogibeel  and  Dhubri.  Four dedicated tourist Jetties have been provided at Jogighopa, Pandu, BiswanathGhat and Neamati with an investment of Rs. 7.09 crores. In addition to above, Jetties for cruise and passengers have been constructed forSadiya, Lyka and OriumGhat in Assam.
- (iv)  9  Permanent Inland Water Transport terminals with godowns and 2 Ro-Ro/RoPax terminals have been constructed on NW-3 (West Coast Canal in Kerala).
- (v)  3  floating  concrete  jetties  were  provided  to  Govt.  of  Goa  in  2020  and  1  during September  2022  and  installed  in  Mandovi  River  (NW-68).  4  Tourist  Jetties  on part of NW-4 (River Krishna) in Andhra Pradesh have been commissioned and 12  floating  jetties  on  NW-110  (River  Yamuna)  in  Mathura-Vrindavan  stretch  in Uttar Pradesh, 2 Jetties on NW-73 (River Narmada) &tender has been awarded for construction of 2 Jetties on NW-37 (River Gandak) in Bihar.
- (b) Policy Measures:
- A  scheme  for  providing  35%  incentive  to  promote  the  utilization  of  inland waterways  transport  sector  by  cargo  owners  and  for  establishing  scheduled service for cargo movement on NW-1 and NW-2 and NW-16 via Indo Bangladesh Protocol has been approved by the Government. This scheme is expected to divert 800 million tonne Km cargo on IWT mode, which is nearly 17% of the current cargo of 4700 million tonne Km on NWs. The scheme is at a cost of less than Rs. 100 Crore for three years and can be scaled up or modified depending on the success of the scheme. The scheme also aims to start a scheduled waterway cargo service between  Kolkata  and  Varanasi/Pandu  using  IWAI  vessels  through  Shipping Corporation  of  India  for  demonstration  effect  and  to  increase  trust  of  cargo movers/owners in the waterway movement.
- Shift  of  cargo  by  PSUs:  For  modal  shift  of  cargo  to  waterways,  more  than  140 Public  Sector  Units  have  been  approached  to  plan  their  movement  using  Inland Water Transport mode. They have been requested to outline their current status of cargo  movement  through  the  waterways  and  their  plan  for  modal  shift  of  cargo. The  Ministry  of  PNG,  Co-operation/  Fertiliser,  Food  &  Public  distribution,  Heavy industries,  Steel  and  Coal  have  been  requested  to  advise  the  PSUs  under  their

jurisdiction to utilize IWT mode as far as possible and earmark certain percentage of their cargo for IWT mode keeping in line the MIV targets.

- Integration with Ports: World over, waterways are most optimally utilised if they are linked to ports. Kolkata port offers an opportunity of seamless integration with NW1 and  can  also  help  in  resolving  the  problem  of  multi  modality.  Therefore,  Syama Prasad Mookherjee Port, Kolkata has been requested for operation and management  of  Multi  Modal  Terminals  at  Varanasi,  Sahibganj,  Haldia  and Intermodal terminal at Kalughat along with other terminals on NW-1.
- Cargo Aggregation: The cargo movement on the waterways suffer from problems of  multimodality  because  of  lack  of  industries  along  the  waterways.  Therefore, projects for development of cargo aggregation hub - Freight Village at Varanasi and  Integrated  Cluster-  cum-Logistics  Park,  Sahibganj  have  been  taken  up. NHLML,  a  PSU  under  the  Ministry  of  Road  Transport  and  Highways  has  been engaged for development of these MMLPs. The work of Rail connectivity for three MMTs has been assigned to M/s Indian Port and Rail Company Ltd. (A PSU under MoPSW).
- River Cruise Tourism: To promote river cruise tourism, number of meetings with cruise  operators  have  been  organised.  Based  on  their  feedback,  steps  like provision of shore power at IWAI terminals, extra berthing arrangements, etc. have been made. New cruise circuits have been identified for operationalization. A total of 34 Waterways have been identified for cruise movement and 10 have already been operationalised.
- IBP  Route:  Indo  Bangladesh  Protocol  route  no.  5  &  6  between  Maia  and Sultanganj has been operationalized recently with successful trial movements.

## Annexure-2

## Major development projects undertaken by IWAI in NER

| Sl. No               | Particulars                                                                                                                               | Sanctioned Amount (in Rs. Cr.)   | Cost Incurred (in Rs. Cr.)   | Status               |
|----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------|------------------------------|----------------------|
| 1                    | Comprehensive Development of NW-2 (River Brahmaputra) from 2020-21 to 2024-25                                                             | 474.00                           | 405.17                       | 85%                  |
| 2                    | Development of Approach Road from Pandu Port Terminal to NH-27 and Development of Ship Repair Facility at Pandu, Guwahati (Assam) on NW-2 | 388.00                           | 259.44                       | 67%                  |
| 3                    | Comprehensive Development of NW-16 (River Barak) from 2020-21 to 2024-25.                                                                 | 148.00                           | 37.05                        | 25%                  |
| Total 1010.00 701.66 | Total 1010.00 701.66                                                                                                                      | Total 1010.00 701.66             | Total 1010.00 701.66         | Total 1010.00 701.66 |

## Annexure-3

| Sl. No.   | Projects under Central Sector Scheme (CSS)                                                                                                                                            | Cost (in Rs. Cr.)   |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
| A         | Assam                                                                                                                                                                                 | Assam               |
| 1         | Construction of Passenger Vessels of different capacities, construction of terminal facilities and capacity building of crews of IWT, Assam on River Brahmaputra NW2 and Barak NW-16. | 25.00               |
| B         | Mizoram                                                                                                                                                                               | Mizoram             |
| 1         | Preparation of DPR for development of IWT in River Tlawng.                                                                                                                            | 0.89                |
| 2         | Preparation of DPR for development of IWT in Chhimtuipui.                                                                                                                             | 1.41                |
| C         | Nagaland                                                                                                                                                                              | Nagaland            |
| 1         | Preparation of DPR for Promotion of Water Sports & Tourism at Noune and Shilloi Lake in Nagaland under Central Sector Scheme.                                                         | 0.90                |
| 2         | Proposal for preparation of DPR for development of IWT in Doyang Lake.                                                                                                                | 0.85                |
| D         | Tripura                                                                                                                                                                               | Tripura             |
| 1         | Setting up of linkage with Meghna River system in Bangladesh by developing Gumti River.                                                                                               | 24.53               |
|           | Total                                                                                                                                                                                 | 53.58               |

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