Parliament Question: Development of Inland Waterways

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4751 ANSWERED ON 20.03.2026 DEVELOPMENT OF INLAND WATERWAYS 4751. SHRI MAGUNTA SREENIVASULU REDDY: Will the Minister of PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYSbe pleased to state: प(cid:517)न,पोत प(cid:303)रवहन और जलमाग(cid:330) मं(cid:361)ी (a) the list of inland waterways presently proposed, under consideration and presently functional across the Country, State-wise including Andhra Pradesh; (b) the quantum of funds allocated, released and utilised for maintenance and upgradation of inland waterways across the Country during the last five years, State- wise including AndhraPradesh; (c) the total trade volume on inland waterways of the Country during the last five years, State-wise including the said State; and (d) whether the Government has considered further developing inland waterways for purposes of tourism, transportation, trade and commerce, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS (SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL) (a) Presently, there are 111 declared National Waterways (NWs) across the country. Out of this 32 NWs are operational for cargo/passenger movement and 20 new NWs are proposed for operationalisation in next five years. The state-wiselist of operational/to be operational NWs is placed at Annexure-1. (b) Funds allocated, released and utilised for maintenance and upgradation of NWs across the country during the last five years, waterway-wise with States including Andhra Pradesh is at Annexure-2. (c) NW wise details of traffic movement for the last five years with growth is at Annexure-3. (d) A total of 20 new NWs have been proposed for development in five years for tourism, transportation, trade and commerce. The details are givenat Annexure-1.Annexure-1 Annexure referred to in reply to part (a) & (d) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4751 for 20/03/2026. (A) List of 32 operational NWs: Sl. No. NW No. National Waterways (NW) Name State Uttar Pradesh, Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System (Haldia- Bihar, Jharkhand 1 NW-1 Allahabad) & West Bengal 2 NW-2 Brahmaputra River (Dhubri-Sadiya) Assam 3 NW-3 West Coast Canal Kerala 4 NW-4 Krishna Godavari River Systems Andhra Pradesh East Coast Canal And Matai River/Brahmani- 5 NW-5 Kharsua-Dhamra Rivers/Mahanadi Delta Rivers Odisha 6 NW-8 Alappuzha-Changanassery Canal Kerala 7 NW-9 Alappuzha-Kottayam – Athirampuzha Canal Kerala 8 NW-14 Baitarni River Odisha 9 NW-16 Barak River Assam 10 NW-23 BudhaBalanga Odisha 11 NW-31 Dhansiri/Chathe Assam 12 NW-44 Ichamati River West Bengal 13 NW-48 Jawai-Luni-Rann of Kutch River Gujarat (Kalyan-Thane-Mumbai Waterway, Vasai Creek 14 NW-53 and Ulhas River) Maharashtra 15 NW-64 Mahanadi River Odisha 16 NW-86 Rupnarayan River West Bengal 17 NW-94 Sone River Bihar 18 NW-97 Sunderbans Waterway West Bengal 19 NW-10 Amba River Maharashtra 20 NW-83 Rajpuri Creek Maharashtra 21 NW-85 Revadanda Creek-Kundalika River System Maharashtra 22 NW-91 Shastri River - Jaigad Creek System Maharashtra23 NW-68 Mandovi River Goa 24 NW-111 Zuari River Goa 25 NW-73 Narmada River Gujarat 26 NW-100 Tapi River Gujarat 27 NW-27 Cumberjua River Goa 28 NW-47 Jalangi River West Bengal 29 NW-87 Sabarmati River Gujarat 30 NW-57 Kopili River Assam Delhi, Haryana & 31 NW-110 Yamuna River Uttar Pradesh Bihar & Uttar 32 NW-40 Ghaghra River Pradesh (B) 20 new NWs proposed for operationalization in next 5 years. Sl. National Waterway State/U.T. No. 1 NW-49 : Jhelum River (110 km) Jammu & Kashmir 2 NW-26: Chenab River (51 km) Jammu & Kashmir 3 NW-84: Ravi River (44 km) Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh & Punjab 4 NW-25: Chapora River (33 km) Goa 5 NW-88: Sal River (14.05 km) Goa 6 NW-4 Extension (1838.20 km) Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh & Chhattisgarh 7 NW-51: Kabini River (23.17 km) Karnataka 8 NW-76: Panchagangavali River (23 km) Karnataka 9 NW-41: Ghataprabha River (111.76 km) Karnataka 10 NW-90: Sharavati River (28.67 km) Karnataka11 NW-14: Baitarni River (48 km) Odisha 12 NW-22: Birupa–Badi–Genguti–Brahmani Odisha System (155 km) 13 NW-23: BudhaBalanga River (55.89 km) Odisha 14 NW-96: Subarnarekha River (311 km) Jharkhand, West Bengal & Odisha 15 NW-20: Bhawani River (95 km) Tamil Nadu 16 NW-89: Savitri River &Bankot Creek Maharashtra (45.57 km ) 17 NW-13: AVM Canal (11.3 km) Kerala& Tamil Nadu 18 NW-59: Kottayam–Vaikom Canal (18.8 Kerala km) 19 NW-28:Dabhol Creek–Vashishti River Maharashtra (45.228 km) 20 NW-5: Brahmani- Kharsua – Mahanadi Odisha Delta rivers (332 km)Annexure-2 Annexure referred to in reply to part (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4751 for 20/03/2026. Fundallocation and expenditureincurred(utilisation)in regard to the development of National Waterways during the last five years: (Rs. in crore) 2020- 2021- 2022- 2023- 2024- Sl.No. National Waterways 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 NW-1 (Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river 1. system) in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, 58.54 87.83 66.25 163.38 97.71 Jharkhand and West Bengal NW-3 (West Coast Canal, Kerala) including NW-8(Alapuzzha- 2. 21.52 10.83 3.82 4.78 15.26 Changonasser) &NW-9(Kottayam- Valicom) in Kerala Phase-1, NW-4(Krishna River) in Andhra 3. 3.62 3.08 0.18 0.67 1.22 Pradesh Phase-1, NW-5 (East Coast Canal And 4. Matai River/Brahmani-Kharsua-Dhamra 2.13 2.58 0.76 26.53 2.24 Rivers/Mahanadi Delta Rivers) in Odisha Other Plan schemes including new NWs- NW-27 (Cumberjao Canal), NW-68 5. (Mondavi River), NW-111 (Zuari River) in 13.21 13.47 4.36 11.25 33.47 Goa, NW-86(Rupnarayan River), NW- 97(Sunderbans River) in West Bengal Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) on NW-1 6. in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and 214.05 229.60 339.22 501.26 501.48 West Bengal NW-2 (Brahmaputra River)&NW-16 7. (Barak River)- Grants for creation of 38.79 78.04 100.18 261.77 432.30 Capital Assets in Assam Total (Rs. in crore) 351.86 425.43 514.77 969.64 1083.68Annexure-3 Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 4751 for 20/03/2026. National Waterways wise Cargo Movement during 2020-21 to 2024-25. (in Million Tons) Sl. National Waterways (NWs) 2020- 2021- 2022- 2023- 2024- No. 21 22 23 24 25 1. NW-1 [Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly River System (Haldia-Allahabad)] in U.P., Bihar, 9.21 10.93 13.17 12.82 16.38 Jharkhand and West Bengal 2. NW-2 [Brahmaputra River (Dhubri-Sadiya)] in 0.31 0.43 0.63 0.59 0.90 Assam 3. NW-3 (West Coast Canal) in Kerala 0.73 1.70 3.23 3.29 3.49 4. NW-4 (Krishna Godavari River Systems) in 6.83 11.23 8.42 4.30 10.40 Andhra Pradesh 5. NW-5 (East Coast Canal And Matai River/Brahmani-Kharsua-Dhamra 0.01 0.40 0.64 0.38 Rivers/Mahanadi Delta Rivers) in Odisha 6. NW-8 (Alappuzha-Changanassery Canal) in - - 0.03 0.04 0.04 Kerala 7. NW-9 (Alappuzha-Kottayam Athirampuzha - - 0.02 0.02 0.03 Canal) in Kerala 8. NW-14 (Baitarni River) in Odisha - - - 0.00 - 9. NW-16 (Barak River) in Assam 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.18 10. NW-23 (BudhaBalanga River) in Odisha - - 0.03 0.02 0.02 11. NW-27 (Cumberjua River) in Goa - - - - - 12. NW-31 (Dhansiri/Chathe River) in Assam - - - 0.01 0.00 13. NW-40 (Ghaghra River) in Bihar & U.P. 14. NW-44 (Ichamati River) in West Bengal 0.28 0.82 0.46 0.48 0.49 15. NW-47 (Jalangi River) in West Bengal - - - - -16. NW-48 (Jawai-Luni-Rann of Kutch River) in - - - - 2.40 Gujarat & Rajasthan 17. NW-53 (Kalyan-Thane-Mumbai Waterway, - - - - 2.70 Vasai Creek And Ulhas River) in Maharashtra 18. NW-57 (Kopili River) in Assam - - - - - 19. NW-64 (Mahanadi River) in Odisha - 0.01 0.45 0.67 0.40 20. NW-86 (Rupnarayan River) in West Bengal 0.00 0.00 0.09 0.10 0.14 21. NW-94 (Sone River) in Bihar - - - 1.16 0.97 22. NW-97 (Sunderbans Waterway) in West 3.86 6.10 5.47 5.19 5.98 Bengal Sub Total (National Waterways 1,2,3,4,5,16,44,64,86,94 &97) 21.22 31.24 32.41 29.34 44.91 Maharashtra Waterways - 23. NW-10 (Amba River) 17.69 20.23 28.54 30.17 29.69 24. NW-83 (Rajpuri Creek) 0.21 0.23 0.24 0.45 0.27 25. NW-85 (Revadanda Creek-Kundalika River 1.08 0.70 0.50 0.99 0.82 System) 26. NW-91 (Shastri River - Jaigad Creek System) 9.23 22.45 33.87 37.05 32.64 TOTAL Maharashtra Waterways 28.21 43.61 63.15 68.66 63.41 Goa Waterways - 27. NW-68 (Mandovi River) 4.00 2.62 2.54 2.42 2.84 28. NW-111 (Zuari River) 4.46 1.96 0.39 1.10 1.32 TOTAL Goa Waterways 8.46 4.58 2.93 3.52 4.16 Gujarat Waterways - 29. NW-73 (Narmada River) 0.08 0.05 0.04 0.06 0.06 30. NW-100 (Tapi River) 25.63 29.32 27.62 31.46 33.31 TOTAL Gujarat Waterways 25.71 29.37 27.66 31.51 33.36Grand Total (Million Tonnes) 83.61 108.79 126.15 133.03 145.84 Year on Year Growth - 30.13% 15.95% 5.45% 9.63% *****