National Waterways In India

Of the 106 new National Waterways notified in April 2016 under the National Waterways Act, 2016, 19 are in the north-east region.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) plans to initiate regular cargo movement through inland waterways under the Sagarmala programme on the same route. Transporting cargo through NW-2 will help lighten the load on roads and reduce logistics costs.

According to a shipping ministry statement, one horsepower can move 150kg on roads, 500kg on rail and as much as 4,000kg on waterways. Similarly, one litre of fuel can move 24 tonnes per km on roads, 85 tonnes on rail and 105 tonnes per km on waterways.