Inland waterways is economically viable sector: Gadkari

Inland Waterways is economically most viable sector and, as such, it should be an integral part of infrastructure development in the country. This was stated by Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari in his inaugural address at the ´National Conference on Inland Waterways: Issues, Options and Strategies´recently. He added that development of inland waterways would lower the logistics, cost of production and, in turn, make the prices of the products more competitive in the global market. Moreover, this sector has a huge potential for generating employment for the youth, he said. Mentioning the growing enthusiasm among investors for the PPP model in road sector, Gadkari said that the possibility of applying this model in inland waterways sector is being studied. He further said that feasibility of joint ventures are also being explored as the Centre and state governments have to work together to this end.