Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) reported a record cargo movement of 145.5 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2024-25. According to the Ministry of Port, Shipping and Waterways, the number of national waterways increased from 5 to 11,1, with the operational length growing from 2 thousand 716 km to 4 thousand 894 km. It added that key cargo commodities like coal, iron ore, iron ore fines, sand, and fly ash made up over 68 per cent of the total cargo transported. The government’s new Jalvahak Scheme provides a 35 per cent operating cost incentive for cargo owners and scheduled services on major routes including NW-1, NW-2 and NW-16. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) aims to increase the modal share of freight movement through Inland Waterways Transport from 2 percent to 5 percent and traffic volume to more than 200 million metric tonnes in line with the Maritime India Vision 2030 and more than 500 million metric tonnes by 2047 as per the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047.