Inland Waterways Development

Inland Waterways Development

There are 29 operational National Waterways (NWs) across the country. The details are below:

Operational National Waterways as of 31.07.2025

Sl. No.

NW No.

Inland Waterways  Name

Cargo

Cruise

Passenger

1

NW-1

Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System (Haldia-Allahabad)

Yes

Yes

Yes

2

NW-2

Brahmaputra River (Dhubri-Sadiya)

Yes

Yes

Yes

3

NW-3

West Coast Canal

Yes

Yes

Yes

4

NW-4

Krishna Godavari River Systems

Yes

 

Yes

5

NW-5

East Coast Canal And Matai River/Brahmani-Kharsua-Dhamra Rivers/Mahanadi Delta Rivers

Yes

Yes

 

6

NW-8

 Alappuzha-Changanassery Canal

Yes

Yes

Yes

7

NW-9

Alappuzha-Kottayam – Athirampuzha Canal

Yes

Yes

Yes

8

NW-14

Baitarni River

Yes

Yes

 

9

NW-16

 Barak River

Yes

 

Yes

10

NW-23

 Budha Balanga

Yes

 

 

11

NW-31

Dhansiri/Chathe

Yes

 

 

12

NW-44

Ichamati River

Yes

 

Yes

13

NW-48

Jawai-Luni-Rann Of Kutch River

Yes

 

 

14

NW-53

(Kalyan-Thane-Mumbai Waterway, Vasai Creek And Ulhas River)

Yes

 

Yes

15

NW-64

 Mahanadi River

Yes

 

 

16

NW-86

 Rupnarayan River

Yes

 

Yes

17

NW-94

Sone River

Yes

 

 

18

NW-97

 Sunderbans Waterway

Yes

Yes

Yes

19

NW-10

Amba River

Yes

 

Yes

20

NW-83

Rajpuri Creek

Yes

 

 

21

NW-85

Revadanda Creek-Kundalika River System

Yes

 

 

22

NW-91

Shastri River – Jaigad Creek System

Yes

 

 

23

NW-68

Mandovi River

Yes

Yes

Yes

24

NW-111

 Zuari River

Yes

 

Yes

25

NW-73

Narmada River

Yes

Yes

 

26

NW-100

Tapi River

Yes

 

Yes

27

NW-27

Cumberjua River

 

Yes

 

28

NW-47

Jalangi River

 

Yes

 

29

NW-87

Sabarmati River

 

Yes

 

 

The budget allocation and utilisation by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways for developing National Waterways in the last three years are given below:

Year

Budget allocation/released for development of NWs

(in Rs. crore)

Utilization

 

(in Rs. crore)

2022-23

495.31

495.31

2023-24

956.50

956.50

2024-25

1069.62

1069.62

 

The steps taken to promote cargo movement and to ensure sustainability of NWs in the country are below:

The infrastructure and policy measures being taken to promote cargo movement and to ensure sustainability of NWs in the country:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Towards promoting eco-friendly transport on National Waterways, IWAI has placed an order for construction of 8 hybrid electric catamarans on Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). One Hydrogen fuelled cell vessel has also been deployed at Varanasi. To enhance port connectivity through multi-modal logistics, multi-modal and inter-modal terminals on NW-1, NW-2 and NW-16 have been developed which are connected to Kolkata/Haldia Ports through waterways.  Moreover, Indian Ports Association (IPA) has been engaged for the feasibility study for establishment of a Cargo Facilitation Centre and Integration of Coastal Mode with Waterways Movement in India.