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

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In a bid to start barge services for transporting cargo across key national waterways, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on Tuesday (May 6, 2025) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with global logistics major 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 said in a statement.

“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 said, speaking at the event.

To begin with, Rhenus will operate on the Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Barak rivers, as well as the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route, moving bulk and break bulk (non-standardised, individual units of) cargo across the north, east, and northeast India, with gradual expansion to other national waterways.

By leveraging Rhenus’s expertise in European inland navigation, and its global fleet of over 1,100 barges, the partnership aims to bring global best 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 said.

The number of operational national waterways in India grew from three in 2014-15 to 24 by 2023-24, with a target of 29 by 2024-25. Cargo movement has surged from 30 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) in 2014-15 to 133 MMTPA in 2023-24, adding up to the cumulative movement of over 779 MMT in the past decade, according to the Ministry.

Currently, 14,500 km of navigable waterways span 111 declared national waterways, and the sector is poised to play a transformative role in the country’s multimodal logistics framework, the Ministry said.