Speaking to The Financial Express, IWAI chairman Dipankar Basu said that though sizable investment in this sector has taken off only from the Ninth Plan, it was still very small due to overall resource crunch.

Basu ruled out any radical change in the government approach but added that there has been a shift towards a multi-modal approach for the transport sector.

Investment in inland waterway transport (IWT) sector from the first Plan period to the Eight Plan has been Rs 680 crore as against Rs 17,188 crore and Rs 63,655 crore in road and rail sectors, respectively. "This sector can absorb much more money," maintained Basu.

With an anticipated 12 per cent industrial growth and 6 per cent GDP, the inland cargo estimated to be moved by 2000 AD would be 1,200 billion tonne km. But Basu ruled out a proportionate increasein the cargo moved by IWT.The total cargo moved by IWT is about 16 mt corresponding to over 1 billion tonne km of the total inland cargo of about 1,000 billion tonne km, the balance being serviced by road and rail.

A target of 2 per cent of the total inland cargo by IWT mode, which is 20 billion tonne km, is set for the Ninth Plan in comparison to present 0.1 per cent.

The total cargo share moved by IWT is expected to be around 0.3 per cent this year. "The increase is due to higher movement of iron between Goa and Kudermukh," noted Basu. According to Basu, the Railways are getting choked in the North-East. "IWT will, therefore, be used for transporting food grains to the region through Bangladesh."

Cargo transportation by IWT in an organised manner is confined to Goa, West Bengal, Assam and Kerala. "There are geographical limitations. Our rivers flow east-west so when we talk of IWT it is east-west movement only.

North-south movement take place through rail and roads," admitted Basu.Besides, thereare limitations of time also. "IWT is suited for high volume cargo being transported on a continuous basis." IWAI deputy director R P Khare felt that if necessary infrastructure is provided and the reliability of the IWT operation is demonstrated, a shift of mode from road to IWT will be automatically propelled by market forces.

A National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) study has pointed out that a shift of 20 billion tonne km to the IWT would result in an annual fuel saving of about Rs 500 crore. Total annual savings would be Rs 900 crore in comparison to the cost through roads.

Khare claimed that even capital investment required per kilometre for IWT is only Rs 20 lakh in contrast to Rs 75 lakh for road and Rs 1 crore for rail. HSD consumption per 1000 km is 24.5 litre in IWT, 31.7 litre in road and 29.7 litre in rail. Navigable inland waterways in India, comprising river systems, canals, backwaters, creek and tidal inlets, extend to about 14,500 km. Most waterways suffer from navigationalinadequacies such as shallow waters, narrow width, siltation, bank erosion and inadequate vertical and horizontal clearances on structures across the waterways.