MoU signed for cargo movement by barges over inland waterways

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) signed a memorandum of MoU on 6 May 2025 with Renus Logistics India Private Limited. Image Credit: PIB

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Signed a memorandum (MoU) with the Global Logistics Head Renus Logistics India Private Limited to introduce the services of transport in the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on Tuesday (May 6, 2025), to introduce barge services to transport cargo to major national waterways.

“As part of the MoU, Renus will introduce 100 Bars in a phased manner in national waterways, while 20 bars and 6 pushers [are] To be deployed in the first phase, targeting the movement of more than one million tonnes of cargo annually by the end of 2025, ”said in a statement by the Ministry of Port, Shipping and Waterways.

“Inland waterways provide a remarkable opportunity to create a greenery, cost -effective and efficient logistics network,” the Union ports, shipping and waterways minister Sarabanand Sonowal said, speaking at the event.

To begin, Renus will operate the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Barak rivers as well as the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route, wholesale and brake bulk (non-standard, individual units) running on cargo in north, east and north-east India, with gradual expansion for other national waterways.

Rains’ expertise in European Inland Navigation and taking advantage of its global fleet of more than 1,100 bars, the partnership aims to bring global best practices in India. “The combination of pushers and barge will be used to break the wholesale and wholesale cargo,” the ministry said, “The combination of pushers and barge will be used.”

The number of national waterways operating in India increased from three to 2024-25 in 2014-15 with a target of 29 from 2024-25. According to the ministry, the cargo movement has increased from 30 million metric tonnes per year (MMTPA) in 2014-15 in 2014-15, up to 133 MMTPA in 2023-24, adding cumulative movement of more than 779 mmt in the last decade according to the Ministry.

Currently, the 14,500 km of Nongmatic Waterway 111 has been declared a national waterway, and the region has been designed to play a transformative role in the country’s multimodal logistics framework, the ministry said.