India is stepping up its inland waterways push after cargo traffic surged nearly eightfold in just over a decade. The government now plans to develop more than a dozen new national waterways (NWs) over the next five to 10 years, with investments of over ₹10,000 crore, two people aware of the matter said. The next leg will also focus on turning these waterways into commercially-viable corridors.
The push aims to expand India's operational waterways network and achieve the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 target of having more than 50 national waterways capable of handling cargo and passenger traffic well ahead of schedule.
The government has also identified 19 more waterways, primarily for cruise tourism and passenger ferry operations, based on techno-economic feasibility studies and detailed project reports. Some of these could subsequently be upgraded for cargo movement, said the first person quoted above.
Cargo movement on national waterways rose nearly eightfold from 29 million tonnes (mt) in 2014-15 to 218 mt in 2025-26, recording a compound annual growth rate of 20.13% and surpassing the government’s target of 200 mt by 2030.
“We have achieved the 2030 target…in FY26 itself,” said the second person, adding that development of additional waterways would help the country move towards the 500 mt target by 2047 ahead of schedule.
The next phase of the project will hinge less on declaring new waterways and more on making commercially viable corridors work end-to-end, according to experts.
Under the National Waterways Act, 2016, 111 inland waterways have been declared as national waterways, covering about 20,187km across 23 states and four Union territories. Of these, 32 waterways, spanning a navigable length of 5,155km, are currently operational for cargo and passenger movement.
Mint's queries on the waterways' project emailed to ministry of ports, shipping and waterways remained unanswered.
Economic corridors
The government is now seeking to develop waterways as comprehensive economic corridors rather than isolated stretches of navigation, linking industrial clusters, freight terminals, ports, roads and railways.
At present, nearly 85% of existing cargo traffic is concentrated on four major waterways: NW-1, the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly system; NW-91, the Shastri River-Jaigad Creek system; NW-100, the Tapi River; and NW-10, the Amba River.
Connectivity is a key factor for the projects' success. “Waterways will deliver their full value only if they’re planned alongside the road and highway network, not in isolation,” said Sanjay Kumar Sinha, founder and managing director, Chaitanya Projects Consultancy. He stressed that first- and last-mile connectivity to industrial clusters and terminals would determine the success of the projects.
The government has also started work on supporting infrastructure. A ship repair facility is nearing completion at Pandu in Assam, while facilities are planned at Varanasi and Patna. A 70-acre freight village is being developed in Varanasi by National Highways Logistics Management Ltd, a subsidiary of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), with a special purpose vehicle already established to create a multimodal logistics hub.
The Jalvahak scheme, launched in December 2024, is another part of the strategy. It offers cargo owners incentives of up to 35% of actual operating expenditure for shifting freight to inland waterways on NW-1, NW-2 (Brahmaputra) and NW-16 (Barak) through the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route.
Experts caution against trying to develop all 111 waterways simultaneously. “The opportunity is less about developing the entire network uniformly and more about identifying and scaling commercially-viable corridors,” said Bhavik Vora, partner at Grant Thornton Bharat.
He said waterways with industrial demand, year-round navigability and connections to ports, rail and road networks were more likely to attract private capital.
Viability factor
Kushal Kumar Singh, partner, Deloitte India, said the mode offered a “significant cost advantage” over road and rail, but cautioned that seasonal water flow, siltation and navigation constraints would determine which rivers could become viable freight channels.
Private investment is, therefore, likely to remain selective. The 2025 regulations allowing private companies to develop and operate inland waterway terminals are intended to create a clearer framework for investment. However, investors will look for assured cargo volumes, reliable fairway depths, terminal utilization and predictable revenue streams.
“Bankability depends heavily on clear risk distribution between the government and private concessionaires,” Sinha said, adding that viability-gap funding could be crucial for strategically important corridors with long payback periods.
Pushpank Kaushik, chief executive and head of business development at Jassper Shipping, said new waterways could “drastically cut down costs of logistics” while reducing pressure on highways and railways and improving hinterland connectivity.
The government is simultaneously expanding the passenger side of the network. Passenger movement rose from 77.6 million in 2024-25 to 105 million in 2025-26, while 17 river cruise circuits across 13 national waterways and nine states were operational as of July 2026.