The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is working with Canara Bank to develop models to incentivise entrepreneurs to invest in inland water vessels. “The proposal is at an advanced stage of consideration by the government,” said Amitabh Verma, Chairman, IWAI.

Canara Bank, in a study, has pointed out that there are positive cash flow options in case the government subsidises vessel costs by 10-15 per cent for inland waterways, said Ajit Kumar Das, Deputy General Manager, Canara Bank.

Meanwhile, marking one year of the NDA government, the Shipping Ministry on Tuesday said it is working on a proposal to develop 300 lighthouses and 1,100 islands as tourist destinations. “The Prime Minister asked us to develop 300 lighthouses and 1,100 islands as tourist destinations. We have made that a part of the Cabinet note,” said Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, addressing a FICCI conference.

Cochin Shipyard

He also said that Cochin Shipyard Ltd was working on the first model of a hovercraft that can operate on land and water for a cost of ₹5 crore, instead of ₹50-60 crore.

At a time when the Ministry is trying to extend subsidies to the shipbuilding sector and incentivise movement on water bodies, Gadkari told stakeholders that they should have called Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as well for the conference, indicating that it is up to the Finance Ministry to incentivise the sector.

“I personally feel it is economically viable…The internal rate of return in waterways is higher than roads,” said Gadkari, adding that the road sector had recently got a good response for its public-private partnership projects taken up on hybrid model.

“We got about 40-5 responses for 17 projects,” he added.

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