The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rhenus Logistics India to enhance cargo movement on India's national waterways. Rhenus, a German logistics major operating in over seventy countries, will initially deploy one hundred cargo vessels and pusher tugs across major inland routes.

The agreement, signed in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, marks a significant push toward private sector participation in inland water transport. The phased operation will begin in the third quarter of 2025, with twenty barges and six pusher tugs on National Waterway-1 (Ganga), National Waterway-2, National Waterway-16, and the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route.

These low-draft vessels will transport bulk and break-bulk cargo across North, East, and North-East India and later to neighbouring countries. This partnership supports the Jal Marg Vikas Project, financed by the World Bank, to upgrade river transport infrastructure.

The initiative aims to lower logistics costs, attract innovation and capital, and expand the country’s cargo handling capacity, which has already reached an all-time high of 145.84 million tonnes. The Jalvahak Cargo Promotion Scheme, launched in December, offers incentives of up to 35 per cent on operational costs to cargo movers using waterways.

Source:Press Information Bureau (PIB), Government of India