Govt plans incentive to shift cargo transport from roads to waterways
The shipping ministry plans to offer companies an incentive of Rs.1 per tonne per km to transport goods,
including foodgrain, automobiles, cement and other commodities, through inland waterways and
coastal shipping.
The proposal has been discussed with stakeholders in the transport industry and would soon be
presented before the cabinet for its approval.
“It is not a subsidy but an incentive being given to the industry for switching to cleaner transportation
like inland waterways and coastal shipping from railways and roadways,” a shipping ministry official said
on condition of anonymity.
With the infrastructure available at present, the incentive offer would cost the shipping ministry Rs.100-
150 crore per year during the initial years.
At present, just 6% of freight transported in India is carried by coastal shipping and inland waterways;
the comparative share in Germany and China is 11% and 24%, respectively.
Road freight accounts for 54% and railways 33% of the cargo transported in the country, with the
remaining 7% sent through pipelines.
A shift from roads and railways to coastal shipping and inland waterways could lead to emission savings
of about 3.5% in the freight transport sector, says a shipping ministry presentation.
It also suggested a reduction in the cost of coastal shipping by changing the so-called cabotage law,
under which only Indian-registered ships are allowed to ply on local routes for carrying cargo.
The presentation said that the proposed incentive would also help to increase transportation of
petroleum, oil and lubricants (POL), coal, steel and cement by coastal shipping from 6 to 12% in a span
of a decade and result in potential savings of Rs.35,000-40,000 crore by optimizing export-import freight
and domestic cargo.
The government has envisioned increasing the share of waterways transportation from 6% to 10% by
2020.
To reach this target, the shipping ministry will now take several steps like moving to larger barges and
use of liquefied natural gas instead of diesel barges and dedicated berths, bunkering and storage
capacities at relevant ports for commodities to be transported through coastal and inland waterways.
The ministry would also suggest the imposition of green taxes on less environmentally friendly modes of
transport such as roadways.
Additional secretary of shipping Alok Srivastava declined to comment on the proposals which he said
were still being finalized.
“We did hold a workshop today with all stakeholders and they were quite clear that financial incentives
need to be granted to the freight owners to provide a level-playing field for water transportation,” he
said, without elaborating.
According to the shipping ministry, transportation by waterways would cost 25 paisa per km, by rail and
road it’s Rs.1.50 and Rs.2.50, respectively. In terms of fuel efficiency, too, waterways compare
favourably: one horsepower can ferry four tonnes of cargo by waterways, while the equivalent is 150kg
and 500kg by road and rail, respectively.
https://www.livemint.com/Politics/ogX4wldjSfXJkgwfAPhzEI/Govt-plans- incentive-to- shift-cargo-