Water

India is bordered by Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean and has a coastline of more than 7,000 kms. It has an extensive network of inland waterways and seaports. The inland waterways include rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks. The total navigable length of inland waterways is 14,500 km. Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is the statutory authority in charge of the waterways in India. There are three national waterways in India: Allahabad Haldia stretch of the Ganga Bhagirathi Hooghly river, Sadiya Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra river system and Kollam Kottapuram stretch of West Coast Canal along with Champakara canal and Udyogmandal canal. These waterways also attract tourists from all parts of the world, thus promoting Indian travel & Tourism. There are also many hotels and resorts in these areas to cater to the lodging needs of the tourists. There are 12 major ports and about 180 minor and intermediate ports in India. With the ports handling more than 95% of the trade in India, they act as the major gateway for trade. The major ports in India are Calcutta, Haldia, Paradip, Visakhapatanam, Ennore, Chennai, Tuticorin, Cochin, New Mangalore, Mormugao, JNPT, Mumbai and Kandla.

For more information about waterways in India