Inland Water Transport (IWT) is an economic, fuel-efficient and environment friendly mode of transport. India has an extensive network of rivers, lakes and canals which, if developed for shipping and navigation, can provide an efficient network of inland transportation. An optimal mix of road, rail and inland water transport will provide an efficient transport infrastructure with mobility, flexibility and cost effectiveness. While the thrust so far has been in developing road and rail sectors, Government recognizes the need to actively promote the IWT sector for it to take a reasonable share in the inter-modal mix of inland transport.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985 empowers the Government to declare waterways with potential for development of shipping and navigation as National Waterways and develop such waterways for efficient shipping and navigation. So far, waterways namely, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the West Coast Canal have been declared as National Waterways and are being developed for shipping and navigation by the Central Government.

The revival plan of Inland Water Transport would include increasing the coverage of National Waterways and provision of necessary infrastructure for shipping and navigation and in augmenting the IWT fleet. While there would be a need for budgetary support for the development of the IWT sector, equally important would be a large-scale private sector participation both for creation of infrastructure and for fleet operations.

The IWT strategy aims at generating a more pro-active role by various agencies for the development of this sector. It has now been decided to enlarge the scope of the role of the Government as a provider, facilitator and regulator and, at the same time, offer various concessions to the private sector for their effective participation by way of investment for creation of enhanced IWT infrastructure and fleet operations.

Source: http://business.gov.in/