Total navigable length of inland water-ways in the country is 15,783 km of which maximum stretch lies in the state of Uttar Pradesh followed by West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and Bihar successively. Amongst the river system, the Ganga has the largest navigable length followed by the Godavari, the Brahmaputra and the rivers of West Bengal. Waterways are having the unique advantage of accessibility to interior places. Besides, they provide cheaper means of transport with far less pollution and communicational obstacles. The waterways traffic movement has gone up progressively from 0.11 m.t. in 1980-81 to 0.33 m.t. in 1994-95.

The development of inland water transport is of crucial importance from the point of energy conservation as well. The ten waterways identified for consideration for being declared as national waterways are namely:

• The Ganga-Bhagirath-hoogli
• The Brahmaputra
• The Mandavi, Zuari river and the Cumbarjua Canal in Goa
• The Mahanadi
• The Godavari
• The Narmada
• The Sunderbans Area
• The Krishna
• The Tapi
• The West Coast Canal.

The Ganga – Bhagirath-Hoogli and Brahmaputra have already been declared as National Waterways. Farakka Navigation Lock has been opened for transport, thus allowing transport for upstream reaches of Ganga with Calcutta. With network of national waterways the carriage and cargo in this sector in the 10 river systems is expected to increase by 35 m.t. per year. The consumptive use of water for navigation is not substantial as the wastage is only at the point of terminal storage projects.