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Bharatiya Janata Party · 2019
Claim
Lacks context
Delivery
Partly delivered
Declaring a waterway and operating one turn out to be very different things. The National Waterways Act, 2016 declared 111 waterways; the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways told Parliament on 27 March 2026 that 'Based on Feasibility Study Reports / Detailed Project Reports, 32 NWs have been made operational for cargo/passenger movement'. Ten years after the Act, fewer than a third of the declared waterways carry traffic. Twenty more are listed for operationalisation over the next five years, and the answer says their cost 'is being finalised' — so the plan for them does not yet have a price.
“We will continue to focus on development of inland waterways for shifting inland cargo movement from road and rail to water transport.”No CAG performance audit published
No CAG performance audit covering this scheme has been published. The absence of an audit is not evidence that the claim is either accurate or inaccurate.
No CAG audit of the national waterways programme has been tabled in a report we hold. The figures here are the implementing ministry's own.
No audit period to plot — no CAG performance audit covering this scheme has been published.
32 of 111 declared national waterways operational for cargo or passenger movement
The operational list is dominated by a handful of large rivers — NW-1 on the Ganga system at 1,620 km and NW-2 on the Brahmaputra — with most later additions short stretches of 30 to 250 km, many in Odisha, Kerala and Assam.
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5708, Operational National Waterways — answer by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
A note on the claim. This entry was imported as a promise to "develop 111 national waterways". The 2019 manifesto contains no such number. The 111 comes from the National Waterways Act, 2016, which declared that many stretches of river, creek and canal to be national waterways. What the manifesto says is: "We will continue to focus on development of inland waterways for shifting inland cargo movement from road and rail to water transport."
Declaration is the cheap part, and the gap it leaves is the finding. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways told the Lok Sabha on 27 March 2026: "A total of 111 waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) under the National Waterways Act, 2016. Based on Feasibility Study Reports / Detailed Project Reports, 32 NWs have been made operational for cargo/passenger movement."
Thirty-two of 111, ten years after the Act. The question that prompted the answer asked specifically for "the reasons for the gap between the number of declared waterways and those that are operational", and the answer gives one in passing: operationalisation follows feasibility studies and detailed project reports. In other words, a large number of the 111 were declared before anyone had established that cargo could move on them economically — a river needs assured depth, terminals, night navigation aids and a shipper willing to use it.
The year-wise annexure shows how uneven the progress has been. The big ones came early: NW-1 on the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly system at 1,620 km and NW-2 on the Brahmaputra were operational before 2014. What has been added since is mostly short: the Barak at 121 km, the Sone at 141 km, the Ichamati at 63 km, the Rupnarayan at 72 km, canals in Kerala at 29 and 40 km, the Budhabalanga at 56 km, the Baitarni at 48 km. These are useful local links; they are not a modal shift of national cargo from road and rail to water.
Twenty more waterways are listed for operationalisation over the next five years. On what that will cost, the ministry says the "Estimated cost for their operationalisation is being finalised" — a plan without a price, five years out.
The promise was to continue focusing on development, not to hit a number, so it cannot be called broken. What the record shows is a programme that has been declared at national scale and delivered at local scale. Our verdict is lacks context.
BJP Sankalp Patra 2019 — Lok Sabha election manifesto
“Through this Sankalp Patra, you would get a glimpse of the challenges of the yesteryears, the indomitable efforts made by 130 crore Indians to overcome those challenges and our collective vision for the future… There are two commitments that I am extremely passionate about — doubling of farmer income and housing for all, by the year 2022.”
Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 5708, Operational National Waterways — answer by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
“A total of 111 waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) under the National Waterways Act, 2016. Based on Feasibility Study Reports / Detailed Project Reports, 32 NWs have been made operational for cargo/passenger movement… Details of 20 NWs which will be made operational within next 5 year are given at Annexure-2. Estimated cost for their operationalisation is being finalised based on the infrastructure proposed on these NWs in consultation with the stakeholders/ respective States and the expenditure shall be met from the budgetary support.”