Expanding ways to transport packages to the hinterland and wider market of the country, e-commerce giant Amazon has tied with the government to ship products via inland waterways on river Ganga. The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has signed a pact with Amazon Seller Services Private Limited (Amazon) for promoting cargo movement and transportation of customer shipments & products via inland waterways using river Ganga, which is also called the National Waterway 1. The pilot programme will soon be launched on the Patna-Kolkata water route.
This tie-up marks a major stride towards advancing the country's e-commerce cargo transportation on inland waterways. The ministry says overall, it'll help harness the "efficiency and sustainability of water transport to optimise logistics, diminish environmental footprints, and promote economic development".
Notably, the World Bank data shows rail and road transport consume 18.5% and 91.6% more fuel than water transport, thus making it an "environmentally friendly" mode of transportation.
“This partnership would be an important step towards enhancing the movement of e-commerce cargo through our Inland Waterways," says Sarbananda Sonowal, Union minister for shipping and waterways.
He says the tie-up will leverage the efficiency and sustainability of water transport to "streamline logistics, reduce environmental impact and foster economic growth".
With this service, the artisans, the entrepreneurs and the traders of India’s hinterland will also find an opportunity to sell their products in the wider market, both nationally and internationally, the minister says, adding the maiden ship with e-commerce cargo will be flagged off from Patna to Kolkata soon.
The cargo shipments via inland waterways are anticipated to become regular with shipments from other e-commerce platforms as well through the inland waterways transport (IWT) mode. The government data shows that under the Prime Minister’s Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, the Sagarmala initiative has embarked upon 113 projects worth ₹7,030 crores related to RoRo/RoPax and inland water transport. Of these, 15 projects worth ₹1,100 crore have been completed and 32 projects worth ₹3,900 crore are under implementation.
For Amazon, it will not only lower transportation costs but could also open up new possibilities for other e-commerce companies to leverage the extensive inland waterways to deliver products in cost-effective ways.
According to the government data, up to the year 2023, the cargo handled by the inland waterways stood at 126 MMT. The Centre aims to increase the inland water transport volumes by more than 200 MMT by 2030 and achieve more than 500 MMT by 2047. The Centre also plans to increase the number of operational waterways to over 50 by 2047.
