ITC waterway shipments: ITC announced on March 16, 2024, that it is using inland waterways for commercial transportation, after Amazon's lead in this initiative, according to an official statement. Partnering with the Inland Waterways Authority of India, ITC Limited embarked on shipping FMCG products via National Waterway 1.

A vessel named MV Rabindranath Tagore, with a capacity of 16 TEUs, carried eight containerised cargo units of ITC's processed food items (Noodles) from Kolkata to Patna on March 14, 2024. This operation is managed by Inland and Coastal Shipping Limited (ICSL), a subsidiary of the Shipping Corporation of India.

Last November, IWAI inked a memorandum of understanding with Amazon India Ltd, marking the successful movement of the first e-commerce cargo through National Waterway 1. The Inland Waterways Authority of India is dedicated to enhancing national waterways, aiming to make inland water transport (IWT) a more viable mode of transportation.

Under the Jal Marg Vikas Project, IWAI is enhancing National Waterway 1 (Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system) to facilitate smoother navigation for both passengers and cargo. As of February this year, total cargo movement on national waterways reached 122.21 million tonnes, a 7.2 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

The collaboration between ITC Ltd and IWAI is anticipated to encourage similar partnerships in the future, unlocking new opportunities for the private sector to capitalise on India's extensive inland waterway network.

(With PTI inputs)