Union minister of ports, shipping and waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday unveiled a policy called Jalvahak to incentivize long-haul cargo movements on national waterways straddling the Ganga, Bramaputra and Barak rivers.

Sonowal flagged off cargo ships MV Aai, MV Homi Bhaba along with MV Trishul with two barges, Ajay and Dikhu, from the GR Jetty in Kolkata. This marks the beginning of a fixed scheduled service of cargo vessels from Haldia for national waterways 1 and (NW-1 and NW-2).

The initiative specifically covers NW-1 (Ganga), NW-2 (Brahmaputra) and NW-16 (Barak).

The service will ply vessels on the Kolkata-Patna-Varanasi-Patna-Kolkata stretch of NW-1 and between Kolkata and Pandu in Guwahati on NW-2 via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.

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Sonowal said, “With its advantage of being an economical, ecologically sound and efficient mode of transportation, we want to boost cargo movement via waterways, to decongest the railways and roadways. Jalvahak scheme incentivizes long-haul cargo on NW-1, NW-2 and NW-16, and provides an opportunity for the trade interests to explore movement of cargo via waterways with positive economic value proposition.”

“Further, the regular scheduled freight service, which began from Kolkata, will ensure that the cargo is transported and delivered within a stipulated time frame. This will also generate confidence among our users about the readiness of national waterways for regular movement of cargo in an efficient, economical and environmentally responsible mode of transportation. By empowering our vessel operators with this incentive scheme and encouraging our business enterprises with safe and timely delivery of cargo in a cost-effective manner,” he added.

The MV Trishul and barges Ajay and Dikhu are carrying 1,500 tonnes of cement from Kolkata to Pandu. The second vessel, the MV Aai, is carrying 1,000 tonnes of gypsum to Patna, while the third, the MV Homi Bhaba, is shipping 200 tonnes of coal to Varanasi.

The cargo promotion scheme provides direct incentives to cargo owners to transport goods via inland waterways for a distance of more than 300km. This is a joint effort by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), the nodal agency of waterways development in the country, and Inland and Coastal Shipping Ltd (ICSL), a fully owned subsidiary of Shipping Corporation of India Ltd (SCIL).

The Jalvahak scheme encourages to reduce logistics costs, decongest road and railways, and adapt to a sustainable mode of transportation.

It offers reimbursements of up to 35% of the total operating expenditure incurred while transporting cargo via waterways on NW-1, NW-2 and NW-16 via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.

To encourage business propositions of vessel operators, the scheme encourages cargo owners to hire vessels owned or operated by organizations other than IWAI or ICSL. The incentive scheme is ideal for major shipping companies, freight forwarders, trade bodies and associations that handle bulk and containerized cargo.

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The scheme gives operators the opportunity to optimize their supply chain network and is initially valid for three years.

The commencement of Fixed Day Scheduled Sailing Service is aimed at demonstrating readiness of waterways as a viable, economic and ecologically responsible alternative for cargo transportation.

On the NW-1 stretch between Kolkata and Varanasi via Patna, the transit time is fixed at seven days for Kolkata-Patna stretch, five days for Patna-Varanasi and 14 days for the Kolkata-Varanasi stretch.

For cargo on NW-2 via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route, the Kolkata-Pandu stretch is fixed at 18 days while Pandu-Kolkata is fixed at 15 days.

Sonowal said that with continuing investment in revamping the waterways, “we are expecting a significant turnaround for waterways as these schemes aim at modal shift of 800 million tonne kilometres with an investment of ₹95.4 crore by 2027.”

“This is nearly 17% of the current cargo of 4,700 million tonne kilometres on national waterways. The schemes are an earnest attempt to realize the vast potential that waterways have and to unlock value of the blue economy, that remained neglected for far too long until 2014,” he said.

Sonowal added, “The revitalized national waterways have moved their performance considerably as the total volume of cargo transported has increased from 18.07 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 132.89 million tonnes in 2023-24, registering a growth of more than 700%. We have set a target of 200 million tonnes of cargo movement via waterways by 2030. For 2047, keeping in faith in the growth of inland waterways as a viable alternative for cargo movement, we have set a target of 500 million tonnes, contributing meaningfully towards realizing the vision of Prime Minister’s Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

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India boasts an extensive network of inland waterways comprising rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks. Of the total navigable length of 20,236km, around 17,980km consists of rivers and 2,256km is made up of canals, both suitable for mechanized craft.

However, freight transportation via waterways remains significantly under-utilized compared with countries like the US, China and those in the European Union.