The government has proposed to divert 50 per cent of the inland waterways development fund to states as grant. The current provision permits only 30 per cent.
According to the working group on inland water transport for the Tenth five year plan, the move will ensure greater involvement of state governments in the development of the sector.
North-eastern states are likely to receive the entire corpus of the funds as grant.
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The final report of the group says the ministry of shipping will also work towards developing eight river ports at strategic locations. It will also help in constructing cargo oriented terminals and handling facilities.
The ministry proposes to develop Kolkata as a Central Inland Port for the eastern and north-eastern region.
The strategy during the Tenth Plan would be to tackle constraints in a pro-active manner and set up necessary infrastructure during the next five years, government officials said.
Once benefits start accruing, it should be possible to develop the sector on commercial lines with the participation of the private sector, they added.
"Other important areas would be the creation of an interface between shipping, coastal shipping and IWT at ports connected by national waterways, such as Kolkata, Haldia and Kochi," a senior official said.
The development of water-based tourism is also high on the agenda during the Tenth Plan period.
Synergising the resources of various organisations, such as IWAI, CIWTC, Concor, CWC and state government organisations for joint development efforts has been proposed by the working group on IWT, the official said.
Currently, inland transport quantum in the country is around 1,000 billion tonne-km. Of this, more than 60 per cent is carried by road and the rest by rail. Inland waterways have an insignificant share.
In fact, IWT accounts for 1.5 billion tonne-km, which is just 0.15 per cent of the total transport of the country.
Assam-Kolkata waterways cargo service flagged off
The waterways cargo service from Assam to Kolkata through the international steamer route via Bangladesh has commenced with the inauguration of the MV Rajagopalachari, a state of the art cargo vessel.
The Inland Water Authority of India chairman, B N Jha, flagged off the cargo vessel at Pandu port on its maiden voyage in the National Waterway-2 (river Brahmaputra) carrying a full load of 550 tonne prime quality Assam tea.
Inaugurating the service, Jha said the vessel, designed and built in Holland, has been put into service to establish the huge unexplored potential of an alternative mode of transport suitable for the n-e region.
Tea was being carried at a very economical rate of Rs 567 per tonne against the market rate of Rs 1000 for the same weight by other means of transport.
The IWAI was making all out efforts to establish the National Waterways-2 as a viable alternative mode of transport and accompanying infrastructure facilities were being provided to operators free of charge.
MV Rajagopalachari had recently made a trial run from Kolkata to Pandu through the Sunderbans and Bangladesh covering a distance of 1430 km carrying cargo, he said.