• The meeting aimed to outline a future roadmap focused on green mobility, multimodal logistics, and river-led economic development.

About IWDC 3.0
Convergence: IWDC 3.0 consolidates Centre–State coordination, reviews progress since IWDC 1.0 (2024) and 2.0 (2025), and accelerates inland waterways development across cargo, passenger transport, river cruises, green vessels, and digital navigation.
Approvals: Approved projects worth over Rs.1,500 crore and laid foundation stones for over Rs.150 crore projects, including river cruise jetties in Kerala, Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, and Telangana.
Asset Procurement: Approved Rs.465 crore for procurement of vessels, 20 pontoons, 8 Quick Pontoon Opening Mechanisms (QPOMs), 12 dredgers, 3 tug-barge units, 5 survey vessels and 4 Roll-on/Roll-off Passenger (Ro-Pax) jetties to enhance navigability, safety, and year-round inland waterways operations.
Inland Waterways: India has 111 National Waterways across 23 states and 4 Union Territories (UTs); 32 are operational for cargo and passenger transport, with the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), under MoPSW, responsible for their development, maintenance, and regulation.
About Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW):
Union Minister – Sarbananda Sonowal (Constituency – Dibrugarh, Assam)
Minister of State (MoS) – Shantanu Thakur (Constituency – Bangaon, West Bengal)