Cargo traffic on Ganga waterway may rise to 21.89 MT by 2021: Gadkari

The National Waterway 1 on river Ganga is expected to see 21.89 million tonnes (MT) of cargo traffic in the next two to three years on the back of government measures to promote inland water transport in the country, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said.

Besides, 13 standardised state-of-the-art ship designs have been drawn as part of efforts to boost river transport and remove any ambiguity on vessel sizes that can sail on Ganga, Gadkari added.

"We have taken a slew of steps to promote inland water transport, which has been neglected so far. A study has projected traffic at 21.89 MT on National Waterway 1 (NW-1) by 2021," minister of water resources and Ganga rejuvenation Gadkari told PTI.

The cargo traffic on NW-1 was 5.5 MT in 2017-18, he said.

Currently, various projects underway on NW 1 have the terminal capacity of 13.62 MT and these include Varanasi, Haldia and Sahebganj multi-modal hubs, the minister further said.

With the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) coming up .