India has achieved a record of over 145 million tonnes of cargo movement on inland waterways in 2024-25. The Cargo traffic on National Waterways was around 18 million metric tonnes in 2014-15. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said that this milestone underscores the effectiveness of sustained investments and policy initiatives aimed at enhancing the country’s inland waterways infrastructure. The Ministry said, the number of National Waterways has also increased from five in 2014-15 to 111 in 2023-24, reflecting a strategic push towards multimodal connectivity and sustainable transport solutions.​ The Government has set ambitious targets of 200 million tonnes of cargo movement via inland waterways by 2030.