The Government may look at formulating a scheme to encourage movement of cargo over inland waterways and along the coast.
Pointing to the lower share of cargo moved through these routes , Shipping Secretary P. K. Sinha said the Government could look at such a scheme to shift some of it from roads , through which close to 60 per cent of cargo currently moves in India .
Sinha, who was speaking at a logistics summit organised by the CII here on Friday, said it was too early to share details of an such scheme.
Waterways account for only eight per cent share of cargo moved in India, while they account for 46 per cent of cargo in China, according to a KPMG report on logistics.
Increasing delay due to congested roads and railway tracks is driving firms to move goods through the coastal shipping route, said the report.
Inland waterways are gradually emerging as a favoured mode over road and rail for bulk transportation of coal and cement, it added.
Already, cement from Farakka to Nabadweep, Bhagalpur and Patna; hot rolled coil from Kolkata to Tripura through Ashuganj, and cargo for the proposed hydel power projects in Arunachal Pradesh, are being moved via inland waterways.