The growing role of inland waterways is strengthening India’s logistics resilience, even as global supply chains face disruption from the ongoing West Asian conflict, V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, said at a recent meeting of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Chennai.

The country’s expanding multimodal transport network, particularly inland water transport, is helping cushion the impact on domestic logistics, he said.

He described inland water transport as one of the more gratifying developments in recent years, with the quantum of cargo ferried rising sharply from about 18 million tonnes in 2013-14 to 146 million tonnes, at a compounded annual growth rate of 21 per cent.

The West Asian crisis is not just an energy price shock but also a logistics shock, with supply disruptions and elevated transportation costs affecting the movement of goods. “Freight and insurance costs have gone up and are likely to remain elevated as long as geopolitical uncertainty persists,” he said.

Inland waterways offer a relatively insulated channel for domestic cargo, away from volatile international shipping lanes, while easing the pressure on road and rail networks, he said.

He pointed out that the growth of inland water transport is part of a broader shift in government spending on logistics infrastructure. Investments in ports, dedicated freight corridors and multimodal logistics hubs have been complemented by efforts to develop national waterways and improve navigability. This has helped address long-standing supply bottlenecks, enabling the country to sustain over 7 per cent economic growth in the post-pandemic period, with lower inflation.

The global disruptions underscore the need to build redundancy and resilience into logistics systems, rather than focusing solely on cost efficiency, he said.

As energy imports, particularly crude oil, LPG and natural gas, remain vulnerable to geopolitical shocks, domestic transport alternatives like inland waterways become critical.

“Logistics is one of the key channels through which external shocks transmit into the economy,” he noted, adding that improved internal connectivity can mitigate some of these risks.

The CEA framed the current challenges as an opportunity to rethink logistics strategy. “How do we turn compulsions into convictions and opportunities,” he asked, pointing to inland waterways as a case in point — once underutilised and now emerging as a vital component of India’s transport mix.

More Like This

Published on May 4, 2026