Water Transport

Water transport is the easiest and cheapest mode of transportation. Unlike rail and road transport we do not have to construct water ways because rivers, seas, creeks are given by nature. Water transport plays an important role in international trade.

Recent Developments

National Waterways Act, 2016

  • This Act identifies additional 101 waterways as National Waterways. The Schedule of the Bill also specifies the extent of development to be undertaken on each waterway.
  • This Act also repeals the five Acts that declare the existing national waterways. These five national waterways are now covered under the Act.
  • The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Act states that while inland waterways are recognised as a fuel efficient, cost effective and environment friendly mode of transport, it has received lesser investment as compared to roads and railways.
  • Since inland waterways are lagging behind other modes of transport, the central government has evolved a policy for integrated development of inland waterways.

Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)

  • This vision was articulated by PM Modi in March 2015, where he stated that SAGAR is a distinct but inter-related element and shall underscore India’s engagement in the Indian Ocean Region.
  • The principles enshrined in SAGAR provide us with a coherent framework to address some of the challenges relating to economic revival, connectivity, security, culture and identity, and India’s own evolving approach to these issues.

Blue Economy Vision 2025

Blue Economy Vision 2025: Harnessing Business Potential for India Inc. and International Partners is a pioneering effort by FICCI to sensitize India Inc about the growing global and regional emphasis on sustainability of harnessing the ocean resources.

  • It essentially calls for a Gandhian approach of balancing economic benefits with sustainability for meeting the broader goals of growth, employment generation, equity and protection of environment.
  • Given the scale, diversity and sensitivity of working with the oceans, the Task Force seeks well-integrated Public Private Partnerships (PPP) with sound policy instruments.
  • The need for developing technical know-how and skills, both domestic and in collaboration with global partners has been strongly emphasized, especially for deep-sea operations.
  • For optimal impact, Blue Economy must engage businesses from all segments – large, medium and small – in their niche capabilities.
  • The challenge before us is to ensure intra-ocean trade and investment, and the sustainable harnessing of the wealth of the seas, including food, medicines and clean energy.

Inland Waterways Transport

Inland waterways in India consists of the Ganga–Bhagirathi–Hooghly rivers, the Brahmaputra, the Barak river, the rivers in Goa, the backwaters in Kerala, inland waters in Mumbai and the deltaic regions of the Godavari – Krishna rivers.

Some Important National Waterways

1. National Waterway-1 (NW-1): This starts from Prayagraj (earlier Allahabad) to Haldia with a distance of 1620 km in total. The NW 1 run through the Ganga, Bhagirathi and Hooghly river system having fixed terminals at Haldia, Farrakka and Patna and floating terminals at most of the riverside cities like Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Varanasi and Prayagraj. This is considered as the longest National Inland Waterway in India.

The Jal Marg Vikas Project

The Jal Marg Vikas project for capacity augmentation of NW-1 from Haldia to Varanasi is being implemented, with the technical and financial support of the World Bank.

Under this project, construction of three multimodal terminals, two intermodal terminals, one new navigational lock and works for fairway development, River Information System (RIS), vessel repair and maintenance facilities and Ro-Ro terminals are envisaged to be completed by December, 2022.

2. National Waterway-2 (NW-2): This is a stretch on Brahmaputra River from Sadiya to Dhubri in Assam state. The NW-2 is one of the major freight transportation inland waterway system of NE India and is the third longest Inland Waterway in India with a total length of 891 km.

3. National Waterway-3 (NW-3): NW-3 aka the West Coast Canal is located in Kerala state and run from Kollam to Kottapuram. The 205 km long West Coast Canal is India’s first waterway with all-time navigation facility. The NW-3 consists of West Coast Canal, Champakara Canal and Udyogmandal Canal and runs through Kottappuram,Cherthala, Thrikkunnapuzha Kollam and Alappuzha.

4. National Waterway-4 (NW-4): This connects Kakinadato Pondicherry through Canals, Tanks and River Godavari along with Krishna River. The NW-4 is considered as the second longest waterway of India with total length of 1095 km.

5. National Waterway-5 (NW-5): This connects Odisha to West Bengal using the stretch on Brahmani River, East Coast Canal, Matai River and Mahanadi River Delta. This 623 km long canal system will handle the traffic of cargo such as coal, fertilizer, cement and iron.

6. National Waterway-6 (NW-6): This is the proposed waterway in Assam state that will connect Lakhimpur to Bhanga in river Barak. The 121 km long waterway will help in trading through town of Silchar (Assam) to Mizoram State.

Development of New National Waterways

Based on the feasibility reports and technical viability, it has been decided to undertake development of 32 new NWs declared under the National Waterways Act, 2016, in the next three years. These include NW-16 (Barak), NW-68 (Mandovi), NW-111 (Zuari), NW-27 (Cumberjua), NW-40 (Ghagra), NW-37 (Gandak), NW-58 (Kosi) and NW-97 (Sundarbans).

Other Government Interventions

(a) National Perspective Plan (NPP)

The National Perspective Plan (NPP), for the comprehensive development of India’s coastline and maritime sector, has been prepared and was released at the maiden Maritime India Summit 2016, on 14th April, 2016. As per the National Perspective Plan, the programme envisages the following:

1. Port Modernisation and New Port Development: Augmenting the capacity of current port infrastructure and creating new ports is important to promote export driven growth. With massive cargo volume growth anticipated by 2025, there emerges a need for port upgradation and new infrastructure.

Government Initiatives for Coastal Shipping

  • Moderating the manning and technical requirements for vessels operating within Indian territorial waters through a River Sea Vessel notification.
  • Declaring the inland vessel limits for facilitating coastal trade operations.
  • Issuing coastal shipping rules for coastal vessels operating within 20 miles off the coast.
  • Exempting Customs and Central Excise duty on bunker fuels (IFO 180 and IFO 380 CST) by Indian flagged coastal container vessels.
  • Bringing abatement of service tax at 70% for coastal shipping at par with road and rail.
  • Cabotage relaxation for specialised vessel and increase in discount by major port in port charges from 40% to 80% for two years w.e.f. 02/09/2016

Government Initiatives for Ocean Transport

  • In May 2018, Ministry of Shipping allowed foreign flagged ships to carry containers for transshipment.
  • In March 2018, a revised Model Concession Agreement (MCA) was approved to make port projects more investor-friendly and make investment climate in the sector more attractive.
  • Project UNNATI has been started by Government of India to identify the opportunity areas for improvement in the operations of major ports. Under the project, 116 initiatives were identified out of which 89 initiatives have been implemented as of August 2018.

2. Port Connectivity Enhancement: Enhancing port connectivity is quite a challenge in India, where trade connectivity is mostly based on road and rail infrastructure.

3. Port-linked Industrialisation: Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) have been proposed as economic regions hosting industrial clusters. CEZs are aimed at reducing time and costs required for Export/Import movement and domestic cargo, thus becoming a focal point of Port- linked industrialisation.

4. Coastal Community Development: Coastal communities are important stakeholders of developmental activities within coastal regions. With 72 coastal districts hosting 18% population of India, the development of these communities becomes an integral aspect of overall socio-economic development of the country.

(b) Inland Vessels Act (IV Act)

The existing Inland Vessels Act, 1917 has become absolute because of introduction of modern technology, change in size, type, capacity, propulsion, deck machineries, and automation in operation of powered vessels in Indian waters. There is, therefore, need to review the provisions of existing IV Act so as to rationalize the manning scale of vessels, training and education, and competency of manning staff and also to ensure statutory safety with regard to design, construction and operation of vessels. The Maritime State Development Council (MSDC), in its 15th meeting held on 16.11.2016, therefore, took a decision that a new IV Act should be enacted.

IWAI draft Bill on IV Act

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India. Its headquarters is located in Noida, UP.

  • IWAI has prepared a Draft Bill in 2017 to enact a new IV Act and repealing the existing IV Act. This Bill addresses the existing lacunae of variation of standards of Inland Vessels across States.
  • As per the Draft Bill Central Government would be nodal authority to stipulate uniformly applicable standards and measures to safe navigation of Inland Vessels.
  • The new Bill proposes reforms in the existing scheme of regulations related to certification of survey, registration, competency and service and also covers new types and categories of mechanically propelled vessels (termed as “Special Category Vessels”).

(c) Major Port Authorities Bill, 2016

The Major Ports Authorities Bill, 2016 was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 16, 2016. The Bill repeals the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963.

Key Features of the Bill

  • Under the 1963 Act, all major ports are managed by the respective Board of Port Trusts that have members appointed by the Central Government. The Bill provides for the creation of a Board of Major Port Authority for each major port.
  • The new Major Ports Authority Bill, 2016 would help to impart faster and transparent decision making benefiting the stakeholders and better project execution capability.
  • The Bill is aimed at reorienting the governance model in central Ports to landlord port model in line with the successful global practice.

National Maritime Agenda 2010-20

  • In the Maritime Agenda 2010-20, a target of 3,130 MT port capacity has been set for the year 2020. More than 50% of this capacity is to be created in the non-major ports as the traffic handling by these ports is expected to increase to 1,280 MT.
  • The objective of the Maritime Agenda is not only creating more capacity but augmenting port performance.
  • This enlarged scale of operation is expected to reduce transaction costs considerably and make Indian ports globally competitive. The proposed investment in major and non-major ports by 2020 is expected to be around Rs. 277380 crore.

Related Content