Government joins industry to develop inland waterways
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping has urged the industry to cash in on the business opportunities thrown up by the government’s resolve to develop inland waterways which has emerged as the most economically viable mode of transport for cargo and people. The minister was addressing a national conference on ‘Inland Waterways: Issues, Options and Strategies’ organized by FICCI, jointly with the Ministry of Shipping and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI).
A bill would be tabled in the winter session of Parliament to develop an additional 101 inland waterways. The development of these waterways would ease the pressure on road and rail transport and reduce logistics cost to one-fifth when compared to other modes of transport. It would help in bringing down levels of pollution, said the minister.
Speaking on Public Private Partnership (PPP), he said that in the last one and a half months, five projects for road sector have been approved under PPP mode and there was a renewed attraction towards PPP. He urged the industry to come forward with innovative proposals and partner with government via PPP and joint ventures.
Rajive Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, said that the numbers clearly indicated the huge potential that the inland waterways has to offer and called on the industry to come up with out of the box solutions and become a part of the success story of inland waterways in India. He added that a framework was needed to be worked out for the development of the sector.
Amitabh Verma, Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India, said that the country has five waterways, of which only three are operational. Inland waterways which had been neglected for years, has been brought to the fore front by the government’s initiatives with its strict timelines. He added that the government was in the process of setting up four multi-mode inland waterway terminals along the National Waterway to facilitate road connectivity and provide linkage with the railway network.
“With allocation of funds for the sector in the Budget, there was no dearth of funds. However, the lack of capacity was a challenge for the sector. The private sector had much scope in inland waterways development ranging from barge construction and operation, cruise operation, hydrographic surveys to dredging and skilling up the requisite manpower,” Verma added.
Jyotsna Suri, President, FICCI, said that inland waterways were critical for creating an efficient transport system. It would help ease the growing pressure on other modes of transport, reduce transport cost, promote tourism, reduce pollution, and enhance trade as well economic growth. She added that the estimated cost of development of inland waterways was much lower than that of building highway or railway. However, despite its advantages over other modes of transport, inland waterways are not yet well-developed in India.
