Inland Waterways Development Council: 1st Meeting Held In Kolkata

Utkarsh Classes Last Updated 09-01-2024

Inland Waterways Development Council: 1st Meeting Held In Kolkata

Committee and Commission 3 min read

The first edition of the Inland Waterways Development Council (IWDC) has been held in Kolkata with several initiatives in an effort to enhance the capacity and feasibility of the country's inland waterways.

Chairing the IWDC Meeting:

Union Minister for Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal presided over the meeting.

Organization of IWDC meeting:

It was organized by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), the nodal agency for inland waterways under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Government of India.

Key points related to the IWDC meeting:

In the meeting, a commitment of Rs 45,000 crore was made for the development of river cruise tourism, which includes-
- An estimated ₹35,000 crore for cruise ships.
- ₹10,000 crore for development of cruise terminal infrastructure by 2047.
The inaugural session of IWDC released 'Harit Nauka’ guidelines and ‘River Cruise Tourism Roadmap, 2047'.
A roadmap was prepared to create capacity in an additional 26 waterways suitable for river cruise tourism from the current operational capacity of 8 waterways.
The number of overnight cruise circuits will be increased from 17 to 80.
The number of river cruise terminals will be increased from the current 15 to 185.
The target is to increase the passenger capacity of cruise tourism traffic from 2 lakh to 15 lakh by 2047.
Progress on waterways infrastructure includes establishing multimodal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia, enhancing regional connectivity.
Underlined the importance of the Global Maritime India Summit as part of the strategy to enhance inland waterways for cargo trade.

Objectives of IWDC meeting:-

Infrastructure development
Promoting sustainable development in the water transport sector
Expanding inland waterways for cargo trade
Facilitate transportation and promote trade activities
Working towards becoming a leader in the blue economy

Inland Waterways Development Council (IWDC):

The Government of India established the Inland Waterways Development Council in October 2023.
It was established by comprehensively developing the inland waterways and related inland water transport ecosystem.

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI):

Established – 27 October 1986
It works under the Ministry of Shipping.
Its function is to develop and regulate inland waterways for shipping and navigation.
Headquarters – Noida
Chairman – Sanjay Bandopadhyay