MoU signed for cargo movement by barges over inland waterways

Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rhenus Logistics India Private Limited, on May 6, 2025. Image credit score: PIB

:

In a bid to begin barge providers for transporting cargo throughout key nationwide waterways, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on Tuesday (May 6, 2025) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with international logistics main Rhenus Logistics India Private Limited.

“As part of the MoU, Rhenus will introduce 100 barges in a phased manner in the national waterways while 20 barges and 6 pushers [are] to be deployed in the first phase, targeting the movement of more than one million tonnes of cargo annually by the end of 2025,” the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways mentioned in a press release.

“Inland waterways offer a remarkable opportunity to create a greener, cost-effective, and efficient logistics network,” Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbnanda Sonowal mentioned, talking on the occasion.

To start with, Rhenus will function on the Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Barak rivers, in addition to the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route, transferring bulk and break bulk (non-standardised, particular person items of) cargo throughout the north, east, and northeast India, with gradual growth to different nationwide waterways.

By leveraging Rhenus’s experience in European inland navigation, and its international fleet of over 1,100 barges, the partnership goals to carry international greatest practices to India. “A combination of pushers and barges to suit the low draft navigation will be used to transport both bulk and break bulk cargo,” the Ministry mentioned.

The variety of operational nationwide waterways in India grew from three in 2014-15 to 24 by 2023-24, with a goal of 29 by 2024-25. Cargo movement has surged from 30 million metric tonnes every year (MMTPA) in 2014-15 to 133 MMTPA in 2023-24, including as much as the cumulative movement of over 779 MMT up to now decade, in response to the Ministry.

Currently, 14,500 km of navigable waterways span 111 declared nationwide waterways, and the sector is poised to play a transformative position within the nation’s multimodal logistics framework, the Ministry mentioned.