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Date: 04/12/2024

Govt notifies incentives for inland waterway transport

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has notified a Rs 100 crore scheme to incentivise inland waterways transport (IWT). The scheme also provides sops for starting Scheduled Services for Cargo Movement on National Waterway (NW)-1, NW-2 and NW-16. The IWT sector is in a nascent stage and requires support to promote the modal shift of cargo, in addition to the creation of physical infrastructure, the Ministry said in a note.

While the cost of transporting cargo on the waterways itself is less compared to other modes of transport, the multimodal nature of the transport makes the total logistics cost higher than other modes of transport. This scheme provides a 35% incentive to promote the utilisation of the inland waterways transport sector.