KOLKATA, October 11 — The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) in coordination with the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on Sunday rolled out a ₹4,200 crore financial incentive scheme under the 'Harit Nauka' (Green Vessels) guidelines to accelerate the transition of inland cargo barges, passenger ferries, and harbor tugboats toward battery-electric, green hydrogen, and methanol propulsion.
Under the decarbonization roadmap aligned with Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, the Ministry has mandated that 50 percent of all inland passenger vessels and harbor tugs operating across Major Ports and National Waterway-1 (Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system from Prayagraj to Haldia) and National Waterway-2 (Brahmaputra River from Sadiya to Dhubri) transition to zero-emission propulsion by 2030. Private vessel operators will receive a 35 percent capital subsidy for procuring indigenous green vessels constructed at Indian shipyards, led by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL).
Concurrently, shore-to-ship electric charging infrastructure and green hydrogen bunkering terminals are being commissioned across multi-modal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj, Kalughat, and Haldia under the World Bank-assisted Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP).
The statutory framework of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (constituted in 1986 under the IWAI Act 1985, headquartered in Noida), the National Waterways Act 2016 (designating 111 National Waterways), geographical alignments of NW-1 (1,620 km), NW-2 (891 km), and NW-3 (West Coast Canal in Kerala), and green maritime corridors are essential syllabus domains across UPSC Civil Services (GS-I: Geography & GS-III: Infrastructure).