Finally, India looks inward with new strategy for water transport.

Water was one of the central themes in the Budget, underpinning the Narendra Modi-led Government's ambition to capitalise on this valuable natural resource. The rollout of the Jal Marg Vikas (National Waterways-I) project on the Ganga River, in particular, looks like the first step toward unlocking the potential of India’s much-neglected inland water bodies.

The project aims to facilitate commercial navigation of vessels with a capacity of 1,500 tonnes along a 1,620-km stretch of the Ganga River between Allahabad, in Uttar Pradesh, and Haldia, a port city in West Bengal.


HBL