Total length of waterways in India FY 2020 by state

With over six thousand kilometers, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh in India had the longest waterway at the end of fiscal year 2020. Despite its tremendous potential and affordability, India has yet to develop this mode of travel to its full capacity. Despite having 12 major and 212 non-major ports in total, the passenger traffic in the country amounted to below 25 million in 2019. In comparison, the Indian Railways carries around 23 million passengers every day.

Modes of freight movement

Over two million metric tons per kilometer of freight was moved via road transport in India in 2017. In 2020, rail freight amounted to around 1.2 billion metric tons. Volume of cargo handled across ports in India also amounted to around 1.3 billion during the same time period. About 70 percent of trade by value and more than 90 percent by volume across the south Asian country was done through maritime transport.

The path ahead

With more than 14 thousand kilometers of navigable waterways, water transport in India has tremendous potential for development. Factors such as less damage to the environment and considerably cheap transport compared to the other modes are likely to aid in the future development of the industry.