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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3253
ANSWERED ON 07.08.2026
RIVER PORTS ON NATIONAL WATERWAYS
3253. DR. MOHAMMAD JAWED:
Will the Minister of PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS be pleased to state:
प(cid:517)न, पोत प(cid:303)रवहन और जलमाग(cid:330) मं(cid:361)ी
(a) whether the Government maintains data on functional river ports, terminals and jetties
operating on National Waterways and if so, the details thereof, National Waterway-wise
and State-wise indicating the status of each facility as functional or non-functional;
(b) whether the Government proposes to revive, modernise or redevelop non-functional
river ports, terminals and jetties on National Waterways to promote inland water transport
and enhance economic activity in the hinterland;
(c) if so, the details thereof, including the list of identified projects and the timeline likely
to be taken for their implementation;
(d) whether the Government maintains data on the cargo and passenger traffic handled
through river ports and terminals on National Waterways during the last five years; and
(e) if so, the details thereof including the volume of cargo handled (in metric tonnes),
value of goods transported (in Rs. crore), passenger traffic and revenue generated,
National Waterway-wise and State-wise along with the steps taken by the Government
to increase the utilisation of inland waterways?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF PORTS, SHIPPING AND WATERWAYS
(SHRI SARBANANDA SONOWAL)
(a) to (c) Yes. The National Waterway(NW)-wise and State-wise details of 28
permanent river ports/ terminals and 116 floating jetties/ landing points are given
at Annexure-I. These river ports/ terminals and floating jetties developed by Inland
Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), an autonomous organization under the Ministry of
Ports, Shipping and Waterways are functional and available for the public in ready to use
condition.
(d) Details of cargo and passenger movement on NWs during last five years is given
below.
Year Cargo (in Million Metric Tonnes) Passenger (number)
2021-22 108.79 24,32,0412022-23 126.15 1,25,52,965
2023-24 133.03 1,41,39,552
2024-25 145.84 7,63,81,332
2025-26 218.24 10,55,70,442
(e) Details of NW-wise cargo movement during last five years and State-wise details of
passengers traffic handled on NWs are given in Annexure-II and Annexure-III
respectively. Further, the revenue generated by IWAI during last 5 years is given at
Annexure-IV. However, the data on value of the goods transported is not centrally
maintained.
Infrastructure and policy measures taken for promotion of Inland Water Transport to
increase utilization of NWs are given at Annexure-V.Annexure-I
List of permanent terminals / Floating Jetties / Landing Points on NWs
NW-1 – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal
Permanent Terminals
1 Multimodal Terminal (MMT) Varanasi
2 Gaighat Patna
3 MMT Sahibganj
4 Garden Reach Jetty II, Kolkata
5 MMT Haldia
6 Farakka Jetty (of Farakka Barrage Project)
7 Pakur Jetty (of Farakka Barrage Project)
8 Intermodal Terminal Kalughat
9 BTPS Jetty
National Waterway-2 - Assam
10 Pandu, Guwahati
11 Dhubri
12 MMT Jogighopa
13 Bogibeel
National Waterway-3 - Keralam
14 Kottapuram
15 Aluva
16 CSEZ Kakkanad
17 Maradu
18 Vaikkom
19 Thannermukkom
20 Alappuzha
21 Thrikunnappuzha
22 Kayamkulam
23 Chavara
24 Kollam
25 Bolgaty
26 Willingdon Island
National Waterway-16 - Assam
27 Badarpur
28 Karimganj
List of Floating Jetties / Landing Points on NWs
NW-1– Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal
Floating Jetties/ Landing Points
29 Chunar
30 Mirzapur
31 Ghazipur
32 Buxar33 Doriganj
34 Chirand
35 Simaria
36 Munger
37 Sultanganj
38 Bateshwarsthan
39 Samtaghat
40 Jangipur
41 Murshidabad
42 Matiari
43 Kalna
44 Kolkata
45 Namkhana
46 Bhagabatpur
National Waterway-97
47 Bali Island
48 Hemnagar
National Waterway-2
49 Jogighopa
50 Goalpara
51 Bagbor
52 Bohiri
53 Sualkuchi
54 North Guwahati
55 Machkowa
56 Fancy Bazar
57 Uzan Bazar
58 Mayong Pahar
59 Pobitora
60 Singri
61 Tezpur
62 Silghat (Kaziranga National Park)
63 Biswanath Ghat
64 Dhansiri Mukh
65 Bindhyakata
66 Gamir Ghat
67 Subansiri Mukh
68 Majuli Island
69 Neamati Ghat
70 Aplamukh
71 Sibsagar (Dikhomukh)
72 Bogibeel
73 Dibrugarh
74 Okland
75 Orium Ghat
76 Guizan
77 Saikhowa
78 SadiyaCommunity jetties on NW-1
Uttar Pradesh
79 Ramnagar
80 Raj ghat
81 Kaithy
82 Balua ghat
83 Saidpur
84 Chochakpur
85 Zamania
86 Collector ghat
87 Ujiyar ghat (Bharauli)
88 Majhaua
89 Ravidas ghat
90 Ravidas ghat (Shifted from Samne Ghat)
91 Saraikota
92 Dungurpur
93 Kanspur
94 Ravidas Ghat
95 Namo Ghat-1
96 Namo Ghat-2
Bihar
97 Manihari
98 Tintanga
99 Kahalgaon
100 Aguani Ghat
101 Munger
102 Sultanganj
103 Digha, Bihar
104 Mithan Ghat
105 Kacchi Dargah
106 Mohanpur
107 Raghopur Diara
108 Nakta Diara
109 Nasiriganj
110 Panapur
111 Barh
112 Buxar
113 Mahuli Ghat
114 Karagola (NOC not received)
115 Ayodhya ghat
116 Simariya
117 NIT Ghat
Jharkhand
118 Rajmahal (Manglaghat)
119 Samda Ghat
West Bengal
120 Dainhat
121 Matiary122 Sankhai
123 Sathiati
124 Agardwip (Ghazipur site)
125 Agradip (Agradip site)
126 Ghoriapara-1
127 Ghoriapara-2
128 Talatala
129 Fakirdanga
130 Maniknagar
131 Maganpara
132 Narkelbaria
133 Plassey (Palasi)
134 Ramnagar (WB)
135 Lalbagh Court Ghat
136 Sadar Ghat
137 Berhampore (Gopal Ghat)
138 Berhampore (Khagra Ghat)
139 Saptarishi Ghat
140 Majherchar
141 Guptipara
142 Baranagar
143 Devipur
144 BazarpadaAnnexure-II
Details of Cargo movement on NWs
(Cargo in Million Metric Tonnes)
National Waterways (NW) 2021- 2022-23 2023- 2024-25 2025-26
22 24
NW-1 [Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly
River System (Haldia-Allahabad)] 10.93 13.17 12.82 16.38 84.78
NW-2 [(Brahmaputra River (Dhubri-
0.43 0.63 0.59 0.90 1.29
Sadiya)]
NW-3 (West Coast Canal) 1.70 3.23 3.29 3.49 4.04
NW-4 (Krishna Godavari River
11.23 8.42 4.30 10.40 5.71
Systems)
NW-5 (East Coast Canal And Matai
River/Brahmani-Kharsua-Dhamra 0.01 0.40 0.64 0.38 0.66
Rivers/Mahanadi Delta Rivers)
NW-8 (Alappuzha-Changanassery
- 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.04
Canal)
NW-9 (Alappuzha-
- 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03
Kottayam Athirampuzha Canal)
NW-14 (Baitarni River) - - 0.00 - 0.03
NW-16 (Barak River) 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.18 0.27
NW-23 (Budha Balanga River) - 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.02
NW-27 (Cumberjua River) - - - - 0.36
NW-31 (Dhansiri/Chathe River) - - 0.01 0.00 0.00
NW-44 (Ichamati River) 0.82 0.46 0.48 0.49 0.49
NW-47 (Jalangi River) - - - - 0.11
NW-48 (Jawai-Luni River and Rann of
- - - 2.40 2.58
Kutch )
NW-53 (Kalyan-Thane-Mumbai
Waterway, Vasai Creek And Ulhas - - - 2.70 3.23
River)
NW-57 (Kopili River) - - - - 0.00
NW-64 (Mahanadi River) 0.01 0.45 0.67 0.40 0.47
NW-86 (Rupnarayan River) 0.00 0.09 0.10 0.14 0.18
NW-94 (Sone River) - - 1.16 0.97 0.05
NW-97 (Sunderbans Waterway) 6.10 5.47 5.19 5.98 6.36
Sub Total (National Waterways
31.24 32.41 29.34 44.91 110.70
1,2,3,4,5,16,44,64,86,94,&97)
Maharashtra Waterways -
NW-10 (Amba River) 20.23 28.54 30.17 29.69 31.07
NW-83 (Rajpuri Creek) 0.23 0.24 0.45 0.27 0.28NW-85 (Revadanda Creek-Kundalika
0.70 0.50 0.99 0.82 0.26
River System)
NW-91 (Shastri River - Jaigad Creek
22.45 33.87 37.05 32.64 34.41
System)
Total Maharashtra Waterways
43.61 63.15 68.66 63.41 66.02
Goa Waterways -
NW-68 (Mandovi River) 2.62 2.54 2.42 2.84 5.13
NW-111 (Zuari River) 1.96 0.39 1.10 1.32 1.57
Total Goa Waterways 4.58 2.93 3.52 4.16 6.70
Gujarat Waterways -
NW-73 (Narmada River) 0.05 0.04 0.06 0.06 0.06
NW-100 (Tapi River) 29.32 27.62 31.46 33.31 34.75
Total Gujarat Waterways 29.37 27.66 31.51 33.36 34.81
GRAND TOTAL 108.79 126.15 133.03 145.84 218.24Annexure-III
State wise number of passengers traffic handled on NWs
S. NW State(s) 2024-25 2025-26
No. Number
1 NW-1 Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West 4,72,02,730 4,91,51,933
Bengal
2 NW-2 Assam 50,71,938 88,67,999
3 NW-3 Kerala 1,05,23,478 1,11,19,541
4 NW-4 Andhra Pradesh - 23,36,857
5 NW-5 Odisha - 41,25,827
6 NW-8 Kerala 4,75,513 4,24,678
7 NW-9 Kerala 2,78,024 2,95,768
8 NW-10 Maharashtra 2,96,759 3,22,499
9 NW-14 Odisha - 4,80,385
10 NW-16 Assam 20,06,940 37,38,567
11 NW-23 Odisha - 76,567
12 NW-27 Goa - 7,20,724
13 NW-40 Uttar Pradesh - 14,339
14 NW-44 West Bengal 4,27,054 8,33,163
15 NW-47 West Bengal - 87,188
16 NW-53 Maharashtra 24,40,300 31,70,252
17 NW-64 Odisha - 4,61,567
18 NW-68 Goa 28,04,828 87,08,115
19 NW-83 Maharashtra - 2,36,672
20 NW-86 West Bengal 7,13,113 9,39,412
21 NW-91 Maharashtra - 1,02,425
22 NW-97 West Bengal 31,85,723 67,02,172
23 NW-100 Gujarat 3,25,900 3,50,914
24 NW-111 Goa 6,29,032 23,02,878
Total 7,63,81,332 10,55,70,442Annexure -IV
Revenue generated by IWAI during last 5 years is mentioned below:-
(Rs. in Lakh)
Particulars 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
2025-26 (Unaudited)
Revenue/ Internal receipt 1182.34 1397.04 1988.29 2533.90 1717.64Annexure -V
Infrastructure and policy measures taken for promotion of Inland Water
Transport to increase utilization of NWs:
1. Infrastructure measures:
(i) 66 community jetties, 20 floating terminals, 3 Multi-Modal Terminals (MMT), 1 Inter-
Modal Terminal (IMT) and 4 Ro-Pax terminals have been constructed on NW-1 in
addition to 5 pre-existing permanent terminals.
(ii) 13 floating terminals provided on NW-2 along with MMTs at Pandu, Jogighopa and
terminals at Bogibeel and Dhubri. Four dedicated Jetties for cruise vessels have been
provided at Jogighopa, Pandu, Biswanath Ghat and Neamati. In addition to this, Jetties
for cruise and passengers have been constructed at Sadiya, Lyka and Orium Ghat in
Assam.
(iii) 2 existing terminals at Badarpur & Karimganj on NW-16 have been upgraded/
renovated and 1 terminal at Sonamura on Gumati river in Tripura on IBP route has been
constructed.
(iv) 9 Permanent IWT terminals with godowns and 2 Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax terminals have been
constructed on NW-3 in Kerala.
(v) 4 floating concrete jetties have been provided to Govt. of Goa and installed on NW-
68.
(vi) 4 Tourist Jetties on NW-4 in Andhra Pradesh have been commissioned and 8
Floating Jetties on NW-110 in Mathura-Vrindavan stretch in Uttar Pradesh, 2 Jetties on
NW-73 and 2 Jetties on NW-37 in Bihar have been established.
(vii) A new Navigation Lock at Farakka has been constructed.
(viii) 2 Quick Pontoon Opening Mechanisms (QPOMs) have been constructed on NW-1
to facilitate smooth and faster movement of vessels.
(ix) Fairway maintenance works (river training, maintenance dredging, channel marking
and regular hydrographic surveys) have been taken up in various National Waterways
for providing a navigation channel of 35/45 m width and 2.0 / 2.2 / 2.5 / 3.0 m least
available depth (LAD) for operation of vessels.
2. Policy Measures:
Jalvahak Scheme: A scheme for providing 35% incentive to promote the
utilization of inland waterways transport sector by cargo owners and for scheduled
service for cargo movement on NW-1 and NW-2 and NW-16 via IBP route by
Inland & Coastal Shipping Limited (ICSL) has been approved by the
Government. The scheme is implemented at a cost of INR 95.42 Crore for three
years. Tonnage tax: An extension of the tonnage tax scheme to inland vessels
registered under the Indian Vessels Act, 2021 was announced during the budget
presented on 01.02.2025. Inland vessels operating on NWs, rivers, and canals,
will be benefited. This move is expected to boost the industry's competitiveness
and encourage more cargo owners to use inland waterways for transportation. A
tonnage tax system is a special taxation policy for shipping companies where tax
is not based on actual profits but on the size (tonnage) of the vessel. It provides
stable, predictable, and lower taxation for vessel owners, reducing their financial
burden.
The National Waterways (Construction of Jetties / Terminals) Regulations
2025 has been notified, allowing private companies to invest and operate Inland
Waterways infrastructure by providing a clear regulatory framework to attract
private sector investment for facilitating the growth of inland waterways sector.
Jalyan & Navic : To increase ease of doing business in the IWT sector, along the
same lines as ‘vahan’ and ‘sarathi’, a central data base and portal has been
developed for registration of vessels and crew all over the country. This will
facilitate registration of vessels and crew digitally and would also provide accurate
status on number of vessels and crew in the country and thus help in planning.
Cargo Aggregation : The cargo movement on the waterways suffer from
problems of multimodality because of lack of industries along the waterways.
Therefore, projects for development of cargo aggregation hub – MMLP at
Varanasi and Integrated Cluster- cum-Logistics Park, Sahibganj have been taken
up. NHLML, a PSU under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has been
engaged for development of these MMLPs. The work of Rail connectivity for three
MMTs has been assigned to M/s Indian Port and Rail Company Ltd. (a PSU under
MoPSW).
IBP Route : Indo Bangladesh Protocol route no. 5 & 6 between Maia and
Sultanganj has been operationalized recently with successful trial movements.
Shift of cargo by PSUs: For modal shift of cargo to waterways, more than 140
PSUs have been approached to plan their movement using IWT mode. They have
been requested to outline their current status of cargo movement through the
waterways and their plan for modal shift of cargo. Ministries of PNG, Co-
operation, Fertiliser, Food & Public Distribution, Heavy industries, Steel and Coal
have been requested to advise the PSUs under their jurisdiction to utilise IWT
mode as far as possible and earmark certain percentage of their cargo for IWT
mode keeping in line the MIV targets.
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