India’s Huge Waterway Transportation Project: Do you know that you can go from Delhi to Kolkata, Guwahati in Assam and Even Dibrugarh on just one boat without setting foot on land, thanks to our vast river system, India is building a massive water highway network, this project is going to be one of the most important transport project in the history of India.
Perhaps similar to the Golden Quadrilateral Highway Project where India’s 4 mega cities Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata were made connected to each other.
India will also fully open 23 waterways for passenger and cargo movement by 2030. Due to the combined influence of inland waterway development, river linking and Sagarmala projects, the time is not far when most of the cities of India will be connected to each other by waterways, non-coastal states and cities will also have river port facilities available so that they can become more convenient for international trade, apart from road, rail and air, the option of water cruise and boat will also be available for people to travel from one state to another.
So let’s know why and how India is planning to build inland water way network with an investment of more than Rs 45,000 crore in the next few years. In this series of projects, apart from India, many of our Neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar are also involved.
 Apart from the coastline of 7,500 km, India has a total navigable water body of 14,500 km length in the form of rivers, creeks, backwaters and canals, You know that 70% of the world Trade takes place only on water because water transport is the cheapest and cleanest mode of transport in the world.
Like, you can transport only 24 tons of cargo on the roadway with 1 liter of fuel, But with the same fuel, 95 tons of on railways and 215 tons cargo can be transported on waterway.
Similarly, to transport 1 ton of cargo to 1 kilometer, it costs Rs 2.50 on the highway and Rs 1.36 on the railways. The same waterway costs only Rs 1.06. Now, despite having so many benefits, currently only 1 to 2% of India’s domestic freight is transported by inland waterways. while about 65% of domestic freight movement is by road and 27% by rail.
If we compare this with other countries, then More than 8% of domestic freight in the US and China and 7% in the European Union is transported by water way. India, due to its underdeveloped water way, is almost completely dependent on road and railways for domestic trade, which are very expensive modes of transport.
If India utilizes its water ways well, we can save logistics expenses worth millions of rupees every year and perhaps that is why India is now very serious about the development of water ways. In 2016, the Parliament declared 106 water bodies of India as national waterways, before this there were only five recognized national waterways in India on which there was very less cargo and passenger movement, now after the declaration of these new water ways in India.
A total of 111 national water ways have been created,infrastructure development work is also starting on all these so that they can be made navigable for the movement of ships. These waterways will be made up of a network of hundreds of rivers, creeks, estuaries and canals of India, covering 24 states and 2 union territories.
In 2016 itself The foundation stone of the WaterWay Terminal On one of the most important National Waterway 1 on the Ganga Bhagirathi Hooghly River System was laid in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh and with this, 2 vessels carrying newly manufactured Maruti Suzuki cars reached Haldia, West Bengal from Varanasi as a trial run.
The world’s longest Luxury river cruise MV Ganga Vilas was inaugurated in January 2023. This river cruise starts from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and crosses the international border twice in distance of 3,200 kilometers, on National WaterWay 1 and 2, And reaches Dibrugarh in Assam. This cruise journey of about 50 days travels through many tourist places in five states of India and total 27 river systems of india and Bangladesh.
Now river or canal transport is not a new concept, rather it was the first widely used mode of transport of human civilization for long distance transport of heavy materials. Historically, human civilization has developed around rivers, even if That was the Mesopotamian civilization along the Euphrates and Tigris rivers Ancient Egyptian Civilization along the Nile River, Harappan Civilization along the Indus River or Ancient Chinese Civilization along the Yellow River.
Apart from drinking water and agriculture, rivers have also been used for transportation The history of water transport in India can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization.
The Indus Valley Civilization established an ancient port city of Lothal in the Gulf of Khambhat in Gujarat in 2,400 BCE. and is most probably the world’s oldest dock structure was found here, from where ship and cargo could be handled this port used to connect many Harappan towns to the Arabian Sea with the help of Sabarmati River.
On the eastern side of the subcontinent, the Ganges and its tributaries have been the center of vibrant trade and commercial activities for centuries. The ancient Greek historian Megasthenes writes that by the 4th century BC the Ganges and its major tributaries were crossed by waterways and flourishing inland navigation had developed here.
The Ganges, Yamuna, Ghaghra or Saryu were part of several communication routes that connected North-Western India through the Gangetic plains to the port of Tamralipti in the Bay of Bengal. The Maurya and Gupta Empires not only built irrigation canal networks in the Ganga basin but also used these river systems on a large scale for transportation.
Although the Silk Roads were also a major transport medium, But they were difficult to maintain, like the Security of route from robbers, building water wells and shelters at various places, planting trees for shade along the entire route etc. were very expensive and difficult In comparison, river transport was cheap and secure.
By the time of the Mughal period, the river trade had become very dominant, the manufactured goods of Kashmir, Lahore, Multan and Sindh used to reach Lahari Bunder through the Indus River from where they were further exported and on the same route, the products were imported from outside Used to reach interior northern India.
Many cities of Indus Basin were greatly benefited by this riverine trade route Along with this, the Chambal and Son rivers of the Ganga basin were also navigable, thereby connecting the Central India to the Capital Region to Agra and Delhi.
From Agra, rice, salt, lead and cotton were transported through Ganga to Satgaon port of Bengal from where they were further exported to western and eastern countries, Mirzapur, Varanasi, Patna and Munger were important river ports here, the same western region, In Malwa, Khandesh and Deccan, the market products of Burhanpur and Ujjain were transported through the Tapi and Narmada river systems to Surat and Bharuch ports in the Gulf of Khambhat from where they were further exported.
By 1800, river transport was a thriving industry. Tea was discovered in Assam after 1820 under British rule and by 1830s tea plantations started on a large scale in Upper Assam Now in North East India, there has been a long history of water transport on Brahmaputra and Barak Rivers since the time of Ahom Dynasty Due to trade of minerals and forest products but now after the start of tea plantation, this transport has increased manifold.
Tea was one of the most loved Indian commodities by the British, along with spices, so large quantities of Assamese tea from the Brahmaputra Valley used to reach Kolkata via the river, from where it was transported to Britain by sea route.
Now at that time river transport was the cheapest and most secure mode of transport in India, but still the British wanted to introduce railways in India for their own benefit, First steam locomotive was introduced in Britain in 1825 since then the railways had proved to be quite profitable there.
Rail transport was fast, so not only it would have benefited in commercial trade and it would have been easier to plunder India’s resources for the British Empire, but they would also have been able to use it to transport the British military to the rebellion-affected regions of India in a short time, thus helping them to quickly suppress protests and rebellion against birtish rule in india.
Between 1832 and 1850, temporary freight trains were run at many places in British Raj to transport materials over small distances, the tracks of which were removed after the project was completed. In 1853, India’s First passenger train started running between Bombay and Thane at a distance of 34 kilometers…
After this, gradually railways were introduced in Bengal, Madras and Hyderabad and the railway network in India continued to grow. The railway line, which was 1300 kilometers in 1860, increased 20 times to 25,500 kilometers in 1880. Most of the lines connected the interior regions to the three major port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta.
Initially, rail transport was developed as a support system to river transport but gradually due to competition between the two. River transport declined After Independence and specifically after the 1990s, the work of modernizing roadways started in India and today India has the second largest road network after USA with a total length of 64 lakh km.
and the 4th largest rail network in the world with a total length of 68,000 km. Now the question arises that if India has such a huge and successful road and rail network, then why is India developing water ways with the investment of crores of rupees, do we even need it? So actually, despite having such a large road and rail network, it is still not sufficient for our population.
In the last decade, the road network in India has grown by about 59% but in the same time period, vehicle registration has grown by 105%. Means the vehicle density in India is increasing very fast in comparison to the road density Between 2019 and 2023.
2 crore new medium and heavy vehicles have been added on Indian roads, that is, about 13,000 new vehicles every day and if two wheelers are also added to this, then this number becomes 57,000 new vehicles every day and as India is developing, this number is expected to increase further in future due to which Indian roads will become even more congested by each passing years Roads carry 87% of India’s passenger traffic and despite being a very expensive mode, majority of India’s 65% freight is also transported by road, which further increases the possibility of road congestion.
Indian Government also has a goal to increase the freight transported by train to 40% which is currently only 27%, so it can reduce some pressure on the roads but then the railways are already congested as well, both passenger and freight trains faces many delays due to this congestion on the route. That is why the Government of India is also developing a number of expressways and highways, dedicated rail freight corridors as well as inland waterways.
The waterway will work as a supplement mode to the railways and roadways, so that our significant cargo can be transported on the water way. specifically heavy cargo for long distances which has no time limit to transport Multi-model transport hubs will also be built at many places, which will link these three modes together, making it easier to interchange products.
All in one, this will prove to be a game changer for India’s transportation. Although many other countries have effectively developed their inland waterways and are using them on a very large scale, China has the third largest navigable waterway network in the world with 1,38,357 km. In 1978 China’s Waterway trade was only 358 million tons, which increased 10 times to 3.74 billion tons in 2018.
China’s three major rivers Yangtze, Yellow and Pearl all are used for transport. The world’s longest artificial navigable canal is also in China, the Grand Canal which connects Beijing to Hangzhou city with linking China to two longest rivers Yellow and Yangtze. this entire network connects most of the major Chinese cities with each other and inland cities with major port cities For example, Chongqing, with a population of 17 million, is China’s third largest city after Shanghai and Beijing.
Although Chongqing is in the hinterland, 2280 kilometers away from the coastline, But it is still a port city. The Chongqing River port connects the city directly to the Shanghai Port through the Yangtze River. Chongqing Port is China’s largest inland multimodal transport hub, infact 22 different inland ports on the inflowing Yangtze River handle more than 2.5 billion tons of cargo each year.
Similarly, USA has 40,000 km of navigable waterways specifically the 4th largest river basin in the world the Mississippi River System, which is navigable from the port city of New Orleans in the state of Louisiana to the city of Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota, a distance of 2,897 km. Mississippi rivers Tributary and Seaways also provide direct connectivity to the Atlantic Ocean via the Great Lakes; These waterways are a very cheap and effective transport mode for the farmers of Mississippi Valley,
72% of US agricultural exports and 60% of domestic grain transport is done through these waterways, apart from these, these waterways also transport 22% of US domestic petroleum. Inland waterways are a very important transport mode in Europe as well, especially for many landlocked European countries. The Danube, Europe’s second longest river, crosses most countries in Europe This river has been the traditional transport route of Europe since ancient times Along with the Danube, the Rhine River is also a very important navigable river of Europe.
The 171 km long Rhine Danube Canal was built in 1992, which connects the Danube to the Tributary Main of the Rhine River, Due to this canal the North Sea gets direct connectivity with the Black Sea through the Rhine River Basin. The Rhine Waterways passes through Europe’s highly developed and industrialized countries like France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, transporting approximately 170 million tons of goods every year.
Russia also has created a huge waterway network by linking the Dnepr, Dvina, Don, Vistula, and Volga rivers. This makes navigation possible from the Baltic Sea to both the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Now it is not that all rivers are naturally navigable, most of the rivers have to be made navigable by developing infrastructure.
To make any waterway navigable, the most important thing is channel depth, depth of 2 to 3 meters and Width of 45 to 60 meters is necessary so that ships can pass easily. now most of the rivers in India are unable to meet this requirement naturally, the rivers here bring floods in monsoon due to stagnant rainfall, while in summer the water level decreases much more than necessary.
Specifically, our peninsular rivers which are completely dependent on rain water. To maintain adequate water level throughout the year, many barrages will have to be built to store water. Regular dredging process is also done to maintain the bed level of 2 to 3 meters Dredging is the process in which excessive sediments and debris are removed from the river bed If this process is not done, the navigation channel may get jammed and the ships passing through it may also get damaged.
Specifically, in the Himalayan rivers, because this rivers brings large amount of sediments and sand from the mountains, if there is a topological difference in the course of the river, locks will also have to be built there for lifting the ships, this system will have to be developed in all dams as well many river port terminals and transport hubs will also have to be built so that loading and unloading of material can be done.
However, construction, operation and maintenance of waterways is very cheap compared to railways and highways. It costs an estimated Rs 5.5 crore to build a 1 kilometer 2 lane road, similarly it costs Rs 5 crore to build a 1 kilometer railway line outside the terminal whereas It costs only Rs. 2.53 crores to build a 1 kilometer fully advanced waterway.
Apart from these, to develop waterways the government may also have to face many other social and environmental challenges rivers are considered very sacred in Indian culture, apart from this our rivers are rich in bio diversity, ship movement and dredging activities can affect the ecosystem here River fishermen may also face problems due to this so it is possible that some local communities of the river basin may oppose these projects, on top of that, river water is significantly used in drinking water, agriculture, industry and hydroelectric power generation,
now Additional water will be required here too to keep waterways navigable so there may be problems in water management. The old infrastructure already present on the rivers can also create problems, like at present there are multiple old bridges on many declared waterways which has low vertical clearance which can create hindrance in the movement of big ships.
Now the roadway provides door to door service Which is not possible in railways and waterways, in both these modes there may be additional cost of terminal storage and loading and unloading, so waterways may not be so effective on some routes. That is why the authority will have to make different policies for each route, keeping in mind the different conditions and possibilities, however, the Waterway Authority actually Focusing on all the factors like environment, social, economic and budget.
The Authority has adopted the principle of Working with Nature for these projects, specifically for the Ganges Waterway There are two wildlife sanctuaries on the Ganges Waterway, Kashi Turtle Sanctuary in Varanasi and Vikramshila Dolphin Sanctuary in Bhagpur many strict policies have been made to ensure that the wildlife of these sensitive and protected stretches is minimally affected by the waterways.
For example, temporary bundles will be made from bamboo which will channelize the water flow so that ships cannot enter these areas. Dredging activity will be completely banned in protected areas, There will be a speed limit and only ships with noise control devices will get entry There will also be a zero discharge zone so that no waste from the ships can enter the river.
Although the National Waterways Authority was created in 1986 itself to develop our inland waterways for shipping and navigation in the same year the 1,620 km stretch between Prayagraj to Haldia on the Ganges River system was declared as NW1 Then in 1988, the 891 km stretch between Sadiya to Dhubri on the Brahmaputra river was named NW2 In 1993.
The 205 km stretch of Backwater, Rivers and Canal Network between Kozhikode in Kerala to Kollam was designated as NW3, in 2008 the 1095km stretch of Godavari, Krishna and Buckingham Canal Network from Kakinada to Puducherry was designated as NW4Â and Brahmani, Mahanadi and the 623 km stretch of the East Coast Canal was declared NW5.
Now they have been declared waterways but neither any effective policy was made for the development of these waterways nor any proper investment was made on them, apart from only a few passenger ferries, transportation on them was almost negligible in the five years between 2005 to 2010 Where China invested 15 billion dollars in its inland waterway transport, Germany invested 15 billion Euros in just one year in 2012.
whereas India invested only 200 million dollars in 25 years from 1986 to 2010. But the condition of waterways is improving since 2016, 55 million tonnes of cargo traffic was registered on national waterways in 2017-18, which has increased by 130% to 126 million tonnes in 2022-23.
However, in 111 declared waterways of India At present there are 13 waterways operational on which cargo and passenger ship movement is taking place. Now our first waterway NW1 is going to become the most important waterway Ganges Basin is the most populated region of India, infact Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, these two states alone has 26% population of India Ganges Basin is the most fertile region of India, Which contributes to about 40% of India’s food production in fact 40% of India’s total freight movement either originates from this region or is supplied here.
And as almost all the states of the Ganges Basin are landlocked, currently the cargo produced in these states is transported by road and railways to the ports of Gujarat and Maharashtra, after which it is further exported.
If National Waterway 1 is fully developed, then the Significant cargo of the state of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will be diverted to Kolkata and Haldia ports of West Bengal through this route. with the technical and financial support of the World Bank for the development of NW1, work has started on the Jal Marg vikas Project with an investment of Rs 5,369 crore.
In this, a multi-model terminal is being built in Varanasi at a cost of Rs 170 crore, apart from this, A multi-model terminal will also be built in Sahibganj Jharkhand at an expense of Rs. 360 crores and a new navigation lock will be built by replacing the old lock in Farraka, West Bengal at an expense of Rs. 360 crores.
Additionally, the newly declared National Waterway 110 will connect Delhi via Yamuna River to National Waterway 1 of the Ganges near Prayagraj, this route will connect the industrialized National Capital Region and agricultural Haryana and Punjab to Kolkata Port, which will facilitate ease of trade. Apart from this, parts of Chambal, Betwa, Gandak, Gomti, Ghaghra, Son, Punpun, Kosi and Damodar rivers will also be developed by making them navigable.
Due to which Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh will also be connected to the Ganges Waterway Network, and if cargo movement will be cheap and easy, Manufacturing and industrial development will also accelerate in the Ganges basin Nepal is also very interested in the development of these waterways, Landlocked Nepal is almost completely dependent on India’s Kolkata and Visakhapatnam ports for its foreign trade there is a plan to make Gandak Waterways navigable till Nepal border so that Nepalese goods can reach reach Kalughat Terminal in Patna via Netravati and Gandak Rivers.
And from here they will be further transported to Haldia Port, Similarly, after the development of Sahibganj Terminal, Nepal will also get another waterway connectivity through Kosi Waterways NW1 is also connected to NW2 via Bangladeshi Waterways, the second largest river of North East India, Barak’s 121 km strech is also declared as NW 16 which connects South Assam with Meghna River system of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh itself is a riverine country and about 30% of its cargo movement is through waterways. This developing Eastern Waterway Grid will also benefit India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Even Myanmar in trade Bhutan is already exporting its crushed stones to the construction industry of Bangladesh using the waterways brahmaputra and it’s tributaries of the Manas River.
through the India Bangladesh Protocol route It will be easier to transport lime, silicon, petroleum and tea from the Northeast to the rest of India and through this route essential products will be able to reach the Northeast, so that we will not have to depend on the Siliguri Corridor for trade with Northeast.
India-Bangladesh trade will also benefit, despite having the 5th longest border in the world, the trade between the two countries is much less than the potential the land border crossing points are quite congested, the largest check point at Petrapole – Benapole Sometimes Trucks had to wait for multiple days to cross the border waterways will make this cross border trade easier India’s exports to Bangladesh will increase with this it will become cheaper and easier for Bangladesh’s textile industry
to import raw material like cotton from India, huge markets of North East, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar will also open up for Bangladeshi industries. Another project under construction is the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Project which will give us another connecting route to the Northeast In this, the waterway of Kaladan River of Myanmar will be used Sittwe Sea Port is being developed, sea route will be developed from Kolkata to Sittwe, then inland waterway route on Kaladan River from Sittwe to Paletwa and then Paletwa will be connected to the Capital of Mizoram, Aizawl by highway.
Apart from the waterway grid of East and North-East, two more important waterways are being developed on the Eastern Coast, National Waterway 4 and 5 NW 4 is an artificial waterway made up of canal network from Kakinada to Puducherry. Buckingham Canal was built during the British rule, it connects the Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri rivers At present, from Rajahmundry to Bhadranchalam Dam on Godavari River and from Vijayawada on Krishna River to Wazirabad on Telangana border the waterway is navigable to some extent.
It will be fully developed further, on Godavari River from Bhadranchalam to Nashik in Maharashtra for 1184 kilometers and There is a plan to make the 628 km stretch from Wazirabad on Krishna River up to Bagalkot district of Karnataka navigable. Waterways of many tributaries of Godavari and Krishna, Manjra, Bhima, Panganga, Wardha and Tungabhadra will also be developed, which will directly connect Marathwada, Telangana and North Karnataka to Kakinada Port of Andhra Pradesh.
The same NW 5 connects Haldia Port of Ganga River Delta to Paradip Port of Mahanadi Delta through East Coast Canal with extending upto Talcher of Angul District in Brahmani River, this 588 kilometer waterway stretch will be constructed at an expenditure of more than Rs 4,200 crore. Angul in Odisha is the third largest coal producing district of India which produces 12% of India’s coal.
Coal will be the most important cargo on this waterway which will be transported from Angul to Paradip and Dhamra Port. It is estimated that after the completion of this waterway, about 23 million tonnes of coal will be transported from here every year Mahanadi, the largest river of Odisha.
There is also a plan to develop waterway NW 64 which will be 425 km from Mahanadi delta till Hirakud Dam in Sambalpur district Jharsuguda, Sambalpur and Cuttack, these three major industrial clusters will be connected to this waterway and due to the cement, iron, aluminum and steel industries here, this route is also expected to generate 24 million tonnes of cargo traffic annually.
Waterways are being developed on many small and big rivers of Tamil Nadu, the longest waterway in Tamil Nadu will be on kaveri river from Uratchikottai Barrage near Erode to the Bay of Bengal coast, this waterway will connect the Industrial Belt of Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore to the coastline. Now the waterways of the western coast will be of short distance only because the rivers here are neither very long nor very navigable, due to the Western Ghats, yes Kerala has a 205 kilometer navigable network of backwaters, rivers and canals
Fertilizers and chemicals are already transported here, There is a plan to extend it from Kottapuram to Kasaragod in the North and from kollam to Thiruvananthapuram in the South. The rest of the creeks and river waterways of Coastal Karnataka, Goa and Coastal Maharashtra will be of less than 100 km distance which will connect the industrial and mineral producing regions to the coastline. And will connect them to the nearest port.
The navigable waterways of Gujarat’s rivers like Sabarmati, Mahi, Narmada and Tapi will be comparatively longer than other west flowing rivers, more than 200 kilometers each, the longest waterway here will be National Waterway 100 on Tapi river, From Hathnur Dam in Bhusaval Maharashtra to 436 kilometers away Till Hazira Port of Surat Similarly, Rajasthan’s Luni Jawai River system will also be made navigable This waterway will start from Jaswant Sagar Dam on Luni River near Jodhpur and will reach Arabian Sea via the seasonal lake of Run of Kutch.
This waterway will directly connect the landlocked Southwestern Marwar region to the coast line. By the way, tell us in the comments what you think about this massive waterway project.
