Doubling the modal share of coastal and inland water transport is central to India's logistics and climate goals. Examine the constraints and the policy measures needed.

Coastal shipping and inland waterways together carry only about 6% of India's freight. The Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme (Budget 2026-27) aims to double this to 12% by 2047 [1]. The shift can cut logistics costs and emissions together, but only if structural constraints are fixed.

Why the shift matters

• Fuel efficiency: one litre of fuel moves 215 tonne-km by inland water, 95 by rail and 24 by road [4]. The expected saving is 16 MMT of CO₂ [1].
• Momentum: coastal cargo grew from 74 to 177 MMT in 12 years [1].

Constraints

• Navigability: barges need a Least Available Depth of 2 m to operate profitably [3]. Monsoon-fed rivers run shallow in the dry season, so they need dredging every year and vessels sail part-loaded.
• Thin cost edge: RITES figures cited by NITI Aayog put inland water at ₹1.06 per tonne-km against ₹1.36 for rail [4]. Loading, unloading and trucking at the first and last mile wipe out this small gap.
• Concentration and connectivity: inland waterways carry only about 2% of freight, and 5 National Waterways handle 80% of that cargo. The Standing Committee also flagged poor links to the hinterland and high vessel costs [2].
• Ecology: dredging on NW-1 disturbed Gangetic dolphin habitat [2].
• Vague metric: the target does not say whether it is measured in tonnes or tonne-km, and it gives no separate coastal and inland baselines [1].

Policy measures needed

• Statutory clarity: the Coastal Shipping Act, 2025 requires a National Coastal and Inland Shipping Strategic Plan, revised every two years [6]. That plan should fix the metric and set separate coastal and inland targets.
• Develop deep corridors first: prioritise waterways with at least 2 m of natural depth [3] and bulk corridors such as NW-5, which links Talcher–Angul to Paradip and Dhamra [7]. Run environmental studies before development [2].
• Outcome-linked subsidies: Jalvahak pays back up to 35% of operating costs on NW-1, NW-2 and NW-16 [5]. The new scheme should reward fixed-day scheduled services and check results against Jalvahak's 800 million tonne-km goal before scaling up.
• Terminals plus first/last mile: pair incentives with terminal upgrades [2] and road–rail feeder links under PM Gati Shakti.

Water transport works best on coastal routes and bulk-mineral corridors; it cannot replace rail everywhere. Depth-first planning, outcome-linked incentives and integrated multimodal links can make the 12% goal realistic. That would advance Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 [6] and India's commitments under SDG-9 and SDG-13.