With rich river network, tapping national waterways will boost green logistics

IMAGINE a future India where goods glide on barges instead of trucks, logistics corridors slide along rivers instead of highways, and the carbon footprint shrinks even as trade expands.

- VIJAY KUMAR

That future is not fantasy—it is within reach. For India to be Viksit Bharat and truly Atmanirbhar, Inland Water Transport (IWT) has to be the backbone of a sustainable logistics revolution.

Rivers have carried India’s trade for 4,000 years. They connected Lothal to Rome, Bengal to Burma, and Assam to the rest of Southeast Asia. However, roads and railways, with their glitter of speed and steel, pushed rivers into the background. Today, in an age of climate warnings and economic pressures, the tide is turning. Not out of romance, but out of necessity.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, inland waterways have received unprecedented policy focus. Cargo movement on National Waterways has climbed from 18.1 million metric tonnes in 2013-14 to 145.84 million metric tonnes in 2024-25. Operating costs confirm the logic: ₹1.20 per tonne-km by water, compared to ₹1.40 by rail & ₹2.28 by road. Waterways are economical and fuel-efficient.Waterways consume just 0.0048 litres per tonne-km, against 0.0313 litres by road, & 0.0089 litres by rail. This is an eye opener for any supply chain management.

And here’s the real clincher: greenhouse gas emissions per tonne-km on rivers are just a fifth of what roads produce. Every barge sailing down the Ganga or Brahmaputra is not only carrying goods but also cleaning up India’s carbon conscience.