Inland
Water Transport (IWT) mode is widely recognized as an environment friendly and
cost effective mode of transport. As per RITES Report of 2014 on “Integrated
National Waterways Transportation Grid (INWTG)”, one litre of fuel moves 24
tonne - km on road, 95 tonne-km on rail and 215 tonne-km on IWT. The
comparative inter modal costs are given below:-
|
Mode
|
Pre tax freight
(Rs. per tonne Km)
|
Post Service tax freight
(Rs. per tonne km)
|
|
Railways
|
1.36
|
1.41
|
|
Highways
|
2.50
|
2.58
|
|
IWT
|
1.06
|
1.06
|
The significant cost saving shows that the promotion
of Inland Water Transport (IWT) is expected to have a positive impact on
reduction in overall logistics cost. However, as compared to roads and
railways, development of transportation on national waterways is still in
infancy stage.
The Three National
Waterways (NWs) viz. Ganga-Bhagirathi–Hooghly river system (NW-1), River
Brahmaputra (NW-2) and West Coast Canal (NW-3) have been developed with
targeted depth, fixed and floating terminals with mechanized facilities for
cargo loading, unloading and Navigational Aids. Vessels are plying on these
waterways.
This
information was given by the Minister of State for Shipping Shri Mansukh L.
Madaviya in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
UM/MS/AC