New Delhi: India is looking to expand the use of its rivers and canals for tourism and passenger transport, with the Centre identifying a new set of National Waterways for phased development through the end of the decade.
The government has identified 19 National Waterways for development over the next five years, predominantly for cruise tourism and passenger ferry operations, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said on 11 August.
The move comes as only 32 of the 111 waterways declared as National Waterways under the National Waterways Act, 2016 are currently operational for cargo and passenger movement.
The latest plan follows the Union Budget 2026-27 announcement on expanding inland water transport. However, the Budget presented on 1 February had proposed operationalising 20 new National Waterways over five years, beginning with NW-5 in Odisha, while the latest ministry list identifies 19 waterways for phased development. The 11 August release does not explain the change in number or composition of the waterways.
Under the latest roadmap, six National Waterways have been identified for FY 2026-27, the largest number in any single year of the five-year programme.
These include NW-49 on the Jhelum River, NW-26 on the Chenab River and NW-84 on the Ravi River in Jammu & Kashmir, along with NW-51 on the Kabini River and NW-90 on the Sharavati River in Karnataka and NW-88 on the Sal River in Goa.
The programme will extend to another four waterways in FY 2027-28. Karnataka will have NW-52 on the Kali River and NW-41 on the Ghataprabha River, while Odisha will see development of NW-22 covering the Birupa-Badi-Genguti-Brahmani river system and NW-96 on the Subarnarekha River.
For FY 2028-29, the government has identified three waterways – NW-25 on the Chapora River in Goa, NW-13 on the AVM Canal and NW-59 on the Kottayam-Vaikom Canal in Kerala.
Another three have been listed for FY 2029-30. These comprise NW-89 covering the Savitri River and Bankot Creek and NW-28 covering the Dabhol Creek-Vashishti River system in Maharashtra, along with NW-20 on the Bhavani River in Tamil Nadu.
The PIB release spells NW-20 as “Bhawani River”, while the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways’ official National Waterways list identifies NW-20 as the Bhavani River in Tamil Nadu, extending for 95 km.
The final phase, scheduled for FY 2030-31, covers NW-98 on the Sutlej River in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, NW-76 on the Panchagangavali River in Karnataka and NW-37 on the Gandak River.
While the latest PIB annexure lists Uttar Pradesh against NW-37, the ministry’s official National Waterways database identifies the 296-km Gandak National Waterway as extending through Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The identified waterways are not newly declared National Waterways. They form part of the country’s existing National Waterways network and have now been selected for development based on studies undertaken by the government.
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