The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) was set up in 1986. Since then till 2008, only five waterways could be declared as National Waterways. Work could be started on only three of them: National Waterway or NW-1 that is the Ganga National Waterway, NW-2 that is the Brahmaputra Waterway and NW-3 comprising the backwaters of Kerala.

Roads, Ports & Other Infrastructure Committee and Hydrocarbons Committee of PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry organised the “Infrastructure Conclave 2016 – Accelerated Growth with Inclusion & Equity” on 5th October 2016 at PHD House, New Delhi which was attended by more than 130 delegates and 27 speakers from Industry, government and other stakeholders during the full day event.

Amitabh Verma, Chairman, Indian Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), tells Rouhan Sharma India has no option but to develop its waterways infrastructure to keep pace with the needs of a growing population and a developing economy.

In early February 2016, Link Shipping and its partner Symex Maritime Singapore, whom Link Shipping represents in India, created history by pioneering the first movement of cars on a special category Pure-Car-Truck-Carrier (PCTC) vessel, the IDM Symex.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is exploring various funding options to take up development work of inland waterways once Parliament passes the Inland Waterways Bill.

An agreement for credit of $84 million (equivalent) from World Bank for the Bihar Panchayat Strengthening Project was signed. Nilaya Mitash, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance signed on behalf of Government of India and Michael Haney, Operations Advisor, World Bank, India on behalf of the World Bank. On behalf of Government of Bihar, Amitabh Verma, Principal Secretary, Department of Panchayati Raj signed the