There is something quietly poetic about the fact that when India finally gets serious about using its rivers for commerce, the first new waterways it will activate include the Jhelum flowing through the heart of the Kashmir Valley, and the Brahmani threading through Odisha's coal and mineral belt.
These two waterways sit at opposite ends of the country, and at opposite ends of India's infrastructure imagination, one is scenic and long-neglected, the other is industrial and urgently needed.
Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, revealed to the Parliament on Thursday the full schedule of National Waterways to be made operational over the next five years.
What opens this year (FY 2026-27)
Six national waterways are slated to become operational in the upcoming fiscal year, which starts this April 2026:
NW-49: Jhelum River (110 km) — flowing through Srinagar, where IWAI has already installed floating jetties at iconic locations, including Zero Bridge and Amira Kadal, with river cruise tourism as a stated goal
NW-26: Chenab River (51 km) — in Jammu & Kashmir, connecting Akhnoor and Reasi
NW-84: Ravi River (44 km) — Jammu & Kashmir
NW-51: Kabini River (23.17 km) — Karnataka
NW-90: Sharavati River (28.67 km) — Karnataka
NW-14: Baitarni River (48 km) — Odisha
The bigger pipeline (2027–2031)
Thirteen more waterways follow over the next three years, including a 636 km extension of NW-4 along the Krishna River — the single longest addition in this cycle — as well as rivers across Goa (Chapora, Sal), Karnataka (Panchagangavali, Ghataprabha), Odisha (Birupa system, Budha Balanga, Subarnarekha), Tamil Nadu (Bhavani), Maharashtra (Savitri/Bankot Creek, Dabhol Creek–Vashishti, AVM Canal) and Kerala (Kottayam–Vaikom Canal).
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The crown jewel would, however, be the NW-5 in Odisha, slated for FY 2030-31. It is the most consequential waterway that covers 332 km in the Brahmani-Kharsua-Dhamra River system (332 km).
This corridor will link the coal and mineral-rich regions of Talcher and Angul directly to the ports of Paradip and Dhamra, bypassing the congested Talcher-Paradip rail line and dramatically cutting logistics costs for Odisha's mining and steel sector, according to the minister.
Its operationalisation was specifically announced in the Union Budget 2026-27.
India's most active waterway, NW-1 on the Ganga, is already the prime example of what this inland river system development can unlock. Cargo movement on NW-1 grew threefold to a staggering 16.38 million MT in 2024-25 from just 5.05 million MT in 2014-15, i.e., a decade earlier.
In the current FY 2025-26, 13.30 million MT had already moved by January 2026 alone, as per latest numbers released by the shipping ministry. And now, a ship repair facility and a Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) are being set up at Varanasi.
The rivers of the Indian subcontinent have carried cargo for five thousand years. They are about to start doing it again, this time with jetties, navigational aids and a national plan behind them.