Water transport

Water transport is the cheapest way to move goods. It is fuel-efficient, eco-friendly, and suits bulky cargo.

India has 14,500 km of navigable inland waterways, but they carry only about 1 per cent of the country's traffic.

The main National Waterways:

• NW 1: the Ganga, from Prayagraj to Haldia;
• NW 2: the Brahmaputra, from Sadiya to Dhubri;
• NW 3: the west coast canal in Kerala, Kottapuram to Kollam;
• NW 4 and NW 5 in the south and east.

The Inland Waterways Authority was set up in 1986, and a 2016 Act declared 111 national waterways. Kerala's backwaters also draw tourists.

India has a 7,517 km coastline, with 12 major and about 200 minor ports. About 95 per cent of India's foreign trade by volume goes by sea. Cheap and clean, but inland waterways are still under-used.