An efficient transport sector is vital for development of the economy of any country. In a large country like India, efficient transportation becomes pivotal to stimulate competitive business environment. India's transport system comprises a number of distinct modes namely; railways, roadways, inland waterways, coastal shipping and airways. In the liberalised economy of the country when private sector is expected to contribute large share in the GDP, it is necessary that government takes adequate measures to make available an optimum mix of these transport modes.

India is blessed with bounteous natural resources. Water is one such main resource that is available in abundance. By harnessing the water available, our country is bound to reap desired benefits for the development of our economy. Increased cargo movement in India in recent times has once again brought into focus the need to develop inland waterways to ease the congestion on road and rail systems.
India has an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks. The total navigable length is 14,500 kilometers , out of which about 5200 km of river and 485 km of canals can be used by mechanised crafts. Freight transport by waterways is highly underutilised in India compared to other large countries. The total cargo moved by inland waterways is just 0.15% of the total inland traffic in India, compared to the corresponding figures of 20% for Germany and 32% for Bangladesh Inland Water Transport (IWT) is a fuel efficient, environment friendly and cost effective mode of transport having potential to supplement the over burdened rail and congested roads. In the 19th century, and first half of 20th century, IWT an important mode of transport and navigation by power crafts and country boats played significant role in development of trade and commerce along several rivers and canals. The advent of railways and extension of its network made a dent in water transport in India. Rapid growth of roads, coupled with inadequate development of IWT sector over the years gave a decisive set back to IWT and in the later years of 20th century except in a few areas namely, Assam, Goa, Kerala, Mumbai, West Bengal, and some other coastal areas (where it has natural advantages and no developmental intervention was needed), the IWT sector was marginalised.

Considering its inherent advantages, the need for systematic development of this sector was always felt which is evident from the fact that since independence several Committees studied IWT system of the country from time to time and advocated systematic development of the mode. National Transport Policy Committee, accordingly recommended for setting up of an Authority for development and regulation of inland waterways, which led to formation of Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) in 1986. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India. It does the function of building the necessary infrastructure in these waterways, surveying the economic feasibility of new projects and also administration and regulation. The following waterways have been declared as National Waterways:

* National Waterway 1 - Allahabad - Haldia stretch of the Ganga - Bhagirathi - Hooghly river system with a total length of 1,620 kilometres (1,010 mi) in October 1986.

* National Waterway 2 - Saidiya - Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra river system with a total length of 891 kilometres (554 mi) in 1988.

* National Waterway 3 - Kollam - Kottapuram stretch of the West Coast Canal along with Champakara and Udyogmandal canals, with a total length of 205 kilometres (127 mi) in 1993.

* National Waterway 4 - Bhadrachalam - Rajahmundry and Wazirabad - Vijaywada stretch of the Krishna - Godavari river system along with the Kakinada - Puducherry canal network, with a total length of 1,095 km (680 mi) in 2007.

* National Waterway 5 - Mangalgadi - Paradeep and Talcher- Dhamara stretch of the Mahanadi - Brahmani river system along with the East Coast Canal, with a total length of 623 km (387 mi) in 2007.

Transportation through waterways both in Coastal or Inland has been universally accepted as the fuel efficient, environment friendly and economical than other two surface modes of transport i.e. rail and road. It is because of this inherent characteristic and advantages, both coastal shipping and Inland Water Transport have been playing vital role in the economy of any country where such facility exists. With this background most of the developed countries, have exploited this naturally gifted mode of transport to its full extent so as to derive the optimum benefit. Moreover, this mode of transport does not require huge investment as compared to rail and road transport for their development, maintenance and operation. Therefore, the government of India is introducing a number of measures and promotional schemes for development of these sectors besides the seamless integration wherever such potential exists. The integration of both the sectors could be effectively exploited with the operation of suitable and optimum capacity of coastal cum inland vessels, besides the development of the Inland Waterways and Coastal Shipping further.


NTPC to transport coal through Inland Waterways:

National Thermal Power Corporation is India's largest power company set up in 1975 to accelerate power development in India with a power generating capacity of 30,644 mw. NTPC is in continuous talks with Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for transporting coal for its thermal power plants through inland waterways.

NTPC and the IWAI had signed a memorandum of understanding for movement of imported coal from Haldia to Farakka, Kahalgaon and Barh power stations. Under the MoU, NTPC will commit to transport two-three million tonnes coal and assured return cargo of fly ash from its power plants, while the IWAI will provide the navigational channel for movement of barges, undertake project development and design suitable framework for induction of the private player for carrying out the movement.Eastern coal field is unable to supply more than 15 million tonnes coal to Farakka and Kahalgaon power stations, as against their requirement of about 27 million tonnes per annum. The current stocks at several other power stations are supercritical, which is likely to ensure NTPC's continued dependence on imported coal.
The combined cost of the Haldia to Farakka plant and Haldia to Kahalgaon plant is pegged at Rs 660 crore, including the cost of barges, trans-shippers, terminals at both plants and material handling equipment.

According to a recent European Commission survey into the cash spent on socio-economic costs of various types of transport, such as accidents, air pollution, climatic change, noise pollution and congestion, road transportation accounted for 91.5 per cent of the costs, while inland navigation accounted for just 0.5 per cent.

Industry experts say that development of one km of highway cost Rupees 6 crore, while much less than this amount would be adequate to develop 100 km of waterways. The Government has taken some initiatives to develop this sector, primary of them being vessel building subsidy of 30 per cent of the cost to ship-owners for inland vessels.