Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, informed Parliament on Friday that the total passenger traffic recorded on National Waterways (NWs) in India has registered a close to five-fold jump from 1.61 crore in 2023-24 to 7.64 crore in 2024-25.
In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the minister also said that the cargo movement on national waterways nearly doubled in the last five years from 83.6 million tonnes in 20-21 to 145.84 million tonnes in 2024-25. The minister further stated that to promote the inland water transport sector, the Ggovernment has launched the Jalvahak scheme with an outlay of Rs 95.42 crore for a period of 3 years from FY 2024-25 to FY 2026-27.
The scheme also provides financial incentives directly to the cargo owners to the extent of 35 per cent of the total actual operating expenditure incurred on waterways journey. Scheduled services have also been launched by Inland and Coastal Shipping Limited (ICSL) for promotion of IWT, by providing funds to ICSL for the IWT vessel operated by ICSL on Kolkata-Patna/Varanasi route, Kolkata-Guwahati – via IBP route and Kolkata–Karimganj/Badarpur via IBP route.
The scheme is applicable on NW-1, NW-2 and NW-16 only for long-haul movement of greater than 200 kms. He further stated that for safety of navigation, protection of life and cargo and prevention of pollution caused by use of navigation of inland vessels, a Legal and Regulatory Framework on NWs has been provided in the Inland Vessels Act, 2021 which is a unified national regulatory framework for inland vessels plying in inland waters of India.
Further, navigational safety and relevant assistance is provided to vessels with navigational marks. River Pilots are also provided on the cargo vessels for safe navigation. In answer to another question the minister stated that during the past one year, Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) has undertaken repairs of 17 vessels of Union Territory of Lakshadweep Administration (UTLA), including dry-dock and lay-up repairs, and all vessels were delivered within the agreed timelines.
CSL has coordinated with Lakshadweep Development Corporation Ltd (LDCL) to ensure that when a passenger or cargo vessel is taken for repair, another vessel of the same class remains operational. This approach helped UTLA to ensure uninterrupted passenger transport and cargo movement.
As per information received from UTLA, the passenger movement in ships during FY 2023-24 was 3,46,447 passengers while in FY 2024-25 the passenger movement got enhanced to 3,55,612 passengers. Further, as per UTLA data, the cargo movement during FY 2023-24 was 23,379.36 MT while in FY 2024-25 the cargo movement got enhanced to 37,039.40 MT, the minister added.