Lok Sabha Question No. 1196 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-06
Subject: Cargo Owners
Ministry: PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS
Asked by: Shri B K Parthasarathi

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1196

ANSWERED ON 06.02.2026

## CARGO OWNERS

## 1196. SHRI B K PARTHASARATHI:

## Will the Minister of PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS be pleased to state:

## पȅन , पोत पįरवहन और जलमागŊ मंũी

- (a) whether  the  Government  maintains  the  data  regarding  the  number  of  cargo  owners operating in India, if so, the details thereof, State-wise; (b) the  number of cargo owners registered  and approved for receiving incentives under the JalVahak Scheme indicating the incentive disbursed to beneficiaries till date; (c) the number of scheduled services being offered under the scheme along with the total number of vessels operating for such services; (d) whether the Government is monitoring vessel utilization capacity and the average cost incurred per trip for these scheduled services, if so, the details thereof; (e) the  details  of  feedback  obtained  from  cargo  owners  under  both  components  of  the scheme; (f) the criteria  adopted for selecting  waterways and routes covered  under the JalVahak Scheme; and whether the assessment of the performance of the scheme has been completed, if so,

## ANSWER

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

(a)& (b) The data for all cargo owners operating in India is not available.  The number of cargo owners registered and approved for receiving incentives under the Jalvahak Scheme are 10 and 6 respectively.  However, no incentive has been disbursed till date as none of the above mentioned entities has submitted any claim for cargo movement.

- (g) the details thereof?
- (c) Two schedule services namely Kolkata/Haldia to Varanasi and Kolkata/Haldia to Pandu are operating under the Jalvahak Scheme and five vessels are operating for these scheduled services.
- (d) Details  of  vessel  utilisation  capacity  and  the  average  cost  incurred  per  trip  for  these scheduled are at Annexure-I.
- (e) Feedback  received  from  cargo  owners,  namely,  Tata  Steel,  Ultratech  Cement,,  Birla White Cement and stone aggregators on scheduled services is encouraging. However, there is no feed back on incentive to cargo owners as no claim for movement has been made
- (f) The JalvahakScheme is applicable to National Waterway (NW-1), National Waterway-2 (NW-2) and National Waterway-16 (NW-16)and the routescovered under the Scheme are (i) Haldia/Kolkata  -  Patna/Varanasi  (ii)  Haldia/Kolkata  -  Guwahati  -  via  IBP  Route  and  (iii) Haldia/Kolkata - Karimganj/Badarpur via IBP Route.
- (g) During  last  one  year,  performance  of  scheduled  services  on  NW-1  and  NW-2  has demonstrated a steady growth in cargo volume as well as improved cost efficiency.  As per actual performance data, total cargo carried is15883 MT against annual target of 11400 MT and achievement is 139% of the targeted cargo volume.

## Annexure-1

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|   Voyage No. | Vessel Name                                                      | Voyage period             | Vessel Capacity (MT)   | Cargo (MT)                                         | Total Waterway Distance (KM)   | Route                                           | Total Expenditure   |
|--------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
|            1 | MVRamPrasad Bismil with DB Kalpana Chawla and DB APJ Abdul Kalam | 28.06.2025 to 04.09.2025  | 2000 MT                | 1500 MT                                            | 1305KM                         | NW-1 to NW-2 (Haldia to Pandu)                  | Rs. 36,97,870/-     |
|            2 | MVTrisul with DB Ajay and DB Dikhu                               | 18.02.2025 to 25.04.2025  | 2000 MT                | 1000 MT                                            | 1375KM                         | NW-2 to NW-1 (Pandu to Kolkata)                 | Rs. 25,47,058/-     |
|            3 | MVTrisul with DB Ajay and DB Dikhu                               | 16.05.2025 to 08.07.2025  | 2000 MT                | 1500 MT                                            | 1375KM                         | NW-1 to NW-2 (Kolkata to Pandu)                 | Rs. 34,32,856/-     |
|            4 | MVTrisul with DB Ajay and DB Dikhu                               | 02.08.2025 to 14.09.2025. | 2000 MT                | 1486.9 MT                                          | 1375KM                         | NW-2 to NW-1 (Pandu to Kolkata)                 | Rs. 12,53,945/-     |
|            5 | MVVVGiri                                                         | 17.05.2025 to 12.07.2025  | 300 MT                 | 217 MT (as per IWAI records of scheduled services) | 1375KM                         | NW-1 to NW-2 (Kolkata to Pandu)                 | Rs. 19,45,870/-     |
|            6 | MVHomiBhabha                                                     | 31.03.2025 to 30.08.2025  | 300 MT                 | 294 MT                                             | 1030KM (350KM plus 680 KM)     | a.NW-1 (Patna to Varanasi) b. NW-1 (Varanasi to | Rs. 40,33,912/-     |

|    |                                    |                          |         |           |                       | Sahibganj)                      |                 |
|----|------------------------------------|--------------------------|---------|-----------|-----------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------|
|  7 | MVHomiBhabha                       | 05.12.2024 to 11.01.2025 | 300 MT  | 201.7 MT  | 1165KM                | NW-1 (Kolkata to Varanasi)      | Rs. 17,69,806/- |
|  8 | MVHomiBhabha                       | 12.01.2025 to 15.02.2025 | 300 MT  | 90.06 MT  | 1165KM                | NW-1 (Varanasi to Kolkata)      | Rs. 12,36,623/- |
|  9 | MVHomiBhabha                       | 16.02.2025 to 30.03.2025 | 300 MT  | 154.91 MT | 1095KM (Kol-Hal- Pat) | NW-1 (Patna to Kolkata)         | Rs. 37,23,897/- |
| 10 | MVAAI                              | 12.12.2024 to 12.01.2025 | 2000 MT | 1000 MT   | 815KM                 | NW-1 (Haldia to Gaighat)        | Rs. 19,65,415/- |
| 11 | MVTrisul with DB Ajay and DB Dikhu | 15.12.2024 to 08.01.2025 | 2000 MT | 1514 MT   | 1375KM                | NW-1 to NW-2 (Kolkata to Pandu) | Rs. 27,39,324/- |

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