New Delhi, December 13 (IANS). The Central government on Friday said over Rs 6,000 crore has been invested in the last decade in the revival of inland waterways to make them a real option for freight transportation.
Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said during the Parliament session that only Rs 1,620 crore had been invested in the sector in the last 28 years since the establishment of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) in 1986.
The Union Minister said, “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the waterways are being rejuvenated since 2014. Till then, there were only 5 national waterways in our country. Now the number of national waterways has increased to 111. In the last decade, the country An investment of over Rs 6,000 crore has been made for the rejuvenation of inland waterways.”
The total quantity of goods transported through these waterways increased from 18.07 million metric tonnes (MT) in 2013-14 to 132.89 million MT in 2023-24. This has increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.1 percent.
Sonowal said, “We have set a target of 200 million metric tonnes of cargo movement through waterways by 2030. Having faith in the development of inland waterways as a real option for cargo movement by 2047, we have set a target of 500 million metric tonnes and will make a meaningful contribution in realizing PM Modi’s vision of a self-reliant India.”
India has a large network of inland waterways including rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks. Of the total length of waterways of 20,236 km, 17,980 km are rivers and 2,256 km are canals.
In India, freight transportation through waterways is significantly less in comparison to countries like the United States of America (USA), China and the European Union.
–IANS
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