Will waterways succeed where motorways have not?

Inland waterways may allow India to address its issues of poverty reduction and economic development, in cooperation with Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal, but there is a long way to go

Established in 1986, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has made minimal progress in the last few decades, partly because of little investment in its initiatives.

While the United States has committed to a USD 1 trillion infrastructure renewal plan including work on its inland waterways, India was investing a paltry INR 60 million (USD 1 million) each year until 2014.

That funding has since been expanded considerably and the National Waterways Act of 2016 created a legal framework and boosted the number of national waterways from five to 111.

More important perhaps than the finances and legislation, is