The plan is to expedite the development of IWTs, which are important riverine arteries for inland shipping and navigation, but also ensure that they complement seaports rather than compete with them, officials in the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways said.

The change has been introduced in a new regulation for the development of IWTs along national waterways. India is developing 111 national waterway (NW) systems covering over 20,000km—only five of them are operational, while 106 were added in 2016.

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There are around 50 IWTs at the moment, but as the new approved waterways are readied for cargo handling, many more terminals will be needed. 

Several of the upcoming and some of the existing NWs touch the country’s 12 major ports. For instance, NW1 on the Ganges touches Haldia port in West Bengal, while NW3 is close to the major port at Kochi in Kerala. 

The other major ports are Paradip, Kandla, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, Mormugao, Mangalore, Mumbai, Tuticorin, Chennai, Thoothukkudi and Visakhapatnam.

According to regulations issued by the ministry this week, no NoC shall be granted by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for development of a terminal within “the limits” of major ports—an area of operation in the sea or the route that is used by ships to dock in and move out from the port.  

The new regulations make it mandatory for all existing IWTs to also seek NoCs from the IWAI within a specified period of time.

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To protect the interest of existing IWTs set up by the IWAI, the regulation has also stopped new IWTs from being developed within the notified exclusivity zone, i.e. within a specified distance from the existing IWT.

Such exclusivity zones will be notified by the IWAI with the approval of the board of IWAI within 60 days of publication of the new regulations.

An NoC will be granted for a period of five years, by when the IWTs have to become operational. Any delay in operationalizing IWTs beyond five years would face cancellation of the NOC.

“The regulations clarify various issues that were considered impediments for development of infrastructure along national waterway network. The government should look at further incentives for infrastructure development along inland waterways channels to make these critical navigation arteries realize their true potential,” said an official of the terminal development entity on condition of anonymity.

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The IWT development programme seeks to promote waterway systems for movement of both goods and passengers. Since 2013-14, the volume of cargo transported through inland waterways has seen an exponential rise, with total traffic increasing from 29.16 million tonnes (mt) in fiscal year 2014-15 (FY15) to 133.03 mt in FY24, a compound annual growth rate of 18.07% and representing a more than sixfold increase compared to FY14.

Under targets set by the Maritime India Vision 2030 and Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, the government aims to boost cargo traffic to 200 mt by 2030 and 500 mt by 2047.