Inland waterways of India

India has an extensive network of inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks. The total navigable length is 14,500 km (9,000 mi), out of which about 5,200 km (3,200 mi) of the river and 4,000 km (2,500 mi) of canals can be used by mechanized crafts. Freight transportation by waterways is highly under-utilized in India compared to other large countries and geographic areas like the United States, China and the European Union. The total cargo moved (in tonne kilometers) by the inland waterway was just 0.1% of the total inland traffic in India, compared to the 21% figure for United States. Cargo transportation in an organised manner is confined to a few waterways in Goa, West Bengal, Assam ,and Kerala.

Cost of water transportation in India is barely 50 paise (0.78¢ US) a kilometer, as compared to ₹1 (1.6¢ US) by railways and ₹1.5 (2.3¢ US) by roads. Hence water transportation is receiving significant attention in recent times since logistics cost in India is one of the highest among major countries - it is 18% in India versus 8-10% in China and 10-12% in European Union. Inland waterways in India consist of the Ganges (Ganga)–Bhagirathi–Hooghly rivers, the Brahmaputra, the Barak river, the rivers in Goa, the backwaters in Kerala, inland waters in Mumbai and the deltaic regions of the Godavari - Krishna rivers. About 44 million tones of cargo is moved annually through these waterways using mechanized vessels and country boats.

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