IWAI Reports Record 145.5 MMT Cargo Movement in FY 2024-25 and National Waterways See Exponential Growth Over a Decade.

National

In April 2025, Noida, Uttar Pradesh-based The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) reported a record-breaking cargo movement of 145.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) in the Financial Year (FY) 2024-25, up from 18.1 MMT in FY 2013-14, registering a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20.86 percent.


      - Out of the total cargo moved on National Waterways (NWs) during the year, five commodities (i.e., coal, iron ore, iron ore fines, sand, and fly ash) constituted over 68 percent of the total movement.

     

     

Main Point :-   (i) The IWAI, under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPS&W), has expanded the number of NWs from 5 to 111 under the National Waterways Act, 2016. ii. Simultaneously, the operational length of NWs has increased from 2,716 km (2014-15) to 4,894 km (2023-24).

      (ii) Various digital tools like the Least Available Depth Information System (LADIS), River Information System (RIS), Car-D, Portal for Navigational Information (PANI), and Management Information and Reporting Solution (MIRS) were launched by the IWAI to boost the Ease of Doing Business.

(iii) India aims to increase the Inland Water Transport (IWT) modal share from 2 percent to 5 percent, and raise traffic to 200+ MMT by 2030 and 500+ MMT by 2047 under the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision.

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