AsiaPorts and Logistics
‘Waterways will be a game changer for the Indian economy,’ shipping minister proclaims
India’s shipping ministry is pushing for more cash from New Delhi to upgrade the nation’s waterways.
Last year, the Narendra Modi government allocated funds to convert 111 stretches of rivers into national waterways. Now Nitin Gadkari, the shipping minister, wants more to be done.
“Waterways will be a game changer for the Indian economy,” he said at the India Investment Summit yesterday, adding: “We are taking a number of steps to harness the full potential of the sector. We have sought enhanced budgetary allocation from the finance minister”.
Gadkari said India’s waterways only transported 3.5% of the nation’s goods – Europe, by contrast, sees 40% of its freight shifted this way.
Considering the vast network of rivers that India have, it is a good approach to a build infrastructure to use it for transportation.