Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal told the Lok Sabha in written replies that work on multimodal terminals, jetties and dredging for navigable depth on inland waterways is progressing, and that turnaround at major ports has become faster. The replies also covered Mumbai Port Authority works and river tourism in Andhra Pradesh.
For inland water transport, the government has notified the National Waterways (Construction of Jetties/Terminals) Regulation, 2025, introduced the Jalvahak scheme and extended Tonnage Tax benefits. Multi Modal Terminals, Inter Modal Terminals, jetties and fairway maintenance are being developed.
On National Waterway (NW)-1, from Haldia to Prayagraj, the Multimodal Terminals at Varanasi (₹182.33 crore), Sahibganj (₹278.44 crore) and Haldia (₹508.36 crore) are complete. So is the new navigational lock at Farakka (₹369.53 crore). Community jetties are done at 15 locations in Uttar Pradesh, 21 in Bihar, two in Jharkhand and 22 in West Bengal. Ship repair facilities at Varanasi (₹182.93 crore) and Patna (₹210.56 crore) are in progress, and a Freight Village-Multimodal Logistics Park at Varanasi is at the public-private partnership bidding stage.
In the North-East, completed works on NW-2 and NW-16 include the Cargo-cum-Tourist Terminal at Bogibeel (₹101 crore), the high-level jetty at Pandu (₹43.89 crore) and the terminal at MMLP Jogighopa (₹82.04 crore). The Ship Repair Facility at Pandu has reached 98.46% civil progress and 68% overall. Fairway development on NW-2 from the Bangladesh border to Pandu, through the Dredging Corporation of India (DCI), is at 67.70% (₹143 crore).
Elsewhere, four floating steel pontoon terminals on NW-4 (Krishna) and a Ro-Ro terminal in NTR district, Andhra Pradesh, are complete, as are four floating concrete terminals on NW-68 (Mandovi) in Goa. Community jetty and pontoon projects in Goa, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir and Karnataka are targeted for December 2026. Those in Odisha, West Bengal (Ichamati, NW-44) and Kerala (NW-3) are targeted for March 2027.
The minister also listed the Vadhavan Green Field Deep Water Port in Maharashtra, costing ₹76,220 crore, as a new port project.
The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has signed MoUs and operational frameworks with DCI to maintain depths on NW-1, NW-2 and NW-16. On NW-2 and NW-16, IWAI awarded DCI three-year dredging works for the Bangladesh border to Jogighopa, Jogighopa to Pandu and Bhanga to Badarpur stretches. On NW-1, DCI carries out maintenance dredging of the Haldia Access Channel under the supervision of Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata.
A total of 34 shallow-depth dredgers are deployed. NW-1 has 17 contract and 7 departmental dredgers, NW-2 has 5 and NW-16 has 2 under DCI contract. On NW-1, Assured Depth Contracts maintain a Least Available Depth (LAD) of 3.0 m from Tribeni to Barh, and Quantity-Based Contracts maintain a minimum LAD of 2.5 m from Barh to Varanasi. Under these, 42.68 lakh cubic metres have been dredged, 22.81 lakh cubic metres of it in Bihar.
IWAI said it follows a long-term, reach-specific framework based on hydrographic surveys, river morphology and traffic needs. It combines performance-based and quantity-based dredging with bandalling, channel training and navigational aids. Contracts run three years and can be extended by two.
Average turnaround time at major ports fell from 52.87 hours in 2021–22 to 48.84 hours in 2025–26. In 2025–26, Cochin Port recorded 32.33 hours, Jawaharlal Nehru Port 27.43 and Mormugao 66.25. In the World Bank's Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) 2025, Jawaharlal Nehru Port ranks 22nd, against Singapore (21st), Shanghai (23rd) and Rotterdam (333rd). Measures include new berths and terminals, mechanisation, and the One Nation One Port Process (ONOP), which standardises and simplifies port procedures across all ports.
The Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA) listed 2025–26 projects including the Mumbai International Cruise Terminal at Indira Dock (₹192 crore on a DBFOT basis, with ₹303 crore for modernisation) and the Viksit Bharat Mumbai Marina (₹470 crore, EPC part). Projects in 2024–25 included the Third Chemical Berth at Pirpau (₹161 crore).
Its green initiatives include 1.4 MW of operational rooftop solar, with about 57% of electricity needs met by renewables, Green Tugs under the Green Tug Transition Programme, an LNG facility at Jawahar Dweep, a Mangrove Park at Sewri and LPG to PNG conversion for residential connections.
IWAI has developed a Ro-Ro terminal at Muktyala on NW-4 and handed four floating jetties to the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation in 2024. Works have been awarded for a Ro-Ro terminal at Harishchandrapuram. IWAI has also entrusted an update of the Detailed Project Report for NW-4, with completion targeted by March 2027; further action will follow its recommendations.
With reference to the dredging and navigable depth arrangements on National Waterway (NW)-1 described in the article, consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above are correct?
Consider the following information:
| Location | Facility | Waterway | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Farakka | New navigational lock | NW-1 |
| 2. | Bogibeel | Cargo-cum-Tourist Terminal | NW-2 |
| 3. | Mandovi | Floating concrete terminals | NW-4 |
In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched?
With reference to the port performance and turnaround details given in the article, which one of the following statements is correct?
