
MoU signed for cargo movement by barges over inland waterways
:
In a bid to start barge services for transporting cargo across key national waterways, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on Tuesday (May 6, 2025) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with global logistics major Rhenus Logistics India Private Limited.
'As part of the MoU, Rhenus will introduce 100 barges in a phased manner in the national waterways while 20 barges 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,' the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways said in a statement.
'Inland waterways offer a remarkable opportunity to create a greener, cost-effective, and efficient logistics network,' Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbnanda Sonowal said, speaking at the event.
To begin with, Rhenus will operate on the Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Barak rivers, as well as the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route, moving bulk and break bulk (non-standardised, individual units of) cargo across the north, east, and northeast India, with gradual expansion to other national waterways.
By leveraging Rhenus's expertise in European inland navigation, and its global fleet of over 1,100 barges, the partnership aims to bring global best practices to India. 'A combination of pushers and barges to suit the low draft navigation will be used to transport both bulk and break bulk cargo,' the Ministry said.
The number of operational national waterways in India grew from three in 2014-15 to 24 by 2023-24, with a target of 29 by 2024-25. Cargo movement has surged from 30 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) in 2014-15 to 133 MMTPA in 2023-24, adding up to the cumulative movement of over 779 MMT in the past decade, according to the Ministry.
Currently, 14,500 km of navigable waterways span 111 declared national waterways, and the sector is poised to play a transformative role in the country's multimodal logistics framework, the Ministry said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


India.com
25 minutes ago
- India.com
Goa Flexes Its Muscles – and So Does Chandigarh
The places with the most gyms per person in India, ranked… -By Richard McKay of Sprung New Delhi [India], June 10: India is working out like never before. From boxsized neighbourhood studios to swish health clubs with smoothie bars, the country now boasts close to 100,000 commercial gyms. But the spread is far from equal. Fresh industry data put tiny Goa on top for gym access, while rural giants still struggle to get people through a turnstile. The top 10 gyms per 100,000 people Rank State / UT Gyms Pop. (est.) Gyms / 100k 1 Goa 370 1.6 m 23.5 2 Chandigarh 216 1.1 m 20.5 3 Haryana 5,258 30.2 m 17.4 4 Punjab 4,752 30.7 m 15.5 5 Puducherry 185 1.25 m 14.8 6 Delhi (NCT) 3,163 21.6 m 14.7 7 Himachal Pradesh 878 7.5 m 11.8 8 Kerala 4,041 35.8 m 11.3 9 Mizoram 131 1.2 m 10.6 10 Manipur 328 3.2 m 10.2 (Method: commercial gyms listed in May 2025 SmartScrapers data, divided by the latest population estimates. Why does little Goa win? Tourism power – millions of holidaymakers expect hotel gyms and boutique studios. Higher wages – India's top percapita income means locals can afford memberships. Urban lifestyle – twothirds of Goans live in towns, so footfall is close at hand. Chandigarh lifts heavy too The Union Territory is barely a dot on the map, yet bodybuilding culture and deep pockets push it to second place. One gym serves roughly every 5,000 residents – better than most European cities. Delhi: large market, midtable score The capital has more than 3,000 gyms, but with over 21 million people it ranks only sixth per head. High rents and fierce competition mean new entrants need a sharp edge – think techdriven classes, womenonly spaces, or luxury design. The growth frontier Huge states such as Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh sit at the bottom with just three to four gyms per 100,000 people. For brands chasing scale, these regions offer a blank canvas – provided prices match local wallets and real estate. Three takeaways for gym operators Premium niches thrive in small, affluent pockets. Goa, Chandigarh and Puducherry reward clever positioning over sheer size. Middletier chains can still snowball in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Big absolute numbers, modest percapita density. Lowcost, lowtech formats suit the rural heartland. Basic weight rooms and community fitness hubs beat shiny treadmills where budgets are tight. India's fitness boom is only warming up. Even the leaders in this table trail far behind mature markets like the UK and US. Expect the gap to narrow fast as health awareness climbs – and remember, the next breakout gym town might be hiding in plain sight. Richard McKay is founder of Sprung Gym Flooring and writes on fitness business trends. Disclaimer This article is from the Brand Desk. User discretion is advised.
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Govt may start scheme to help MSME exporters register in new markets: Goyal
The government is considering formulating a scheme to fund exporters, especially MSMEs, in registering new products in new markets with an aim to boost the country's outbound shipments, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said. He added that the entire cost of such registration will be funded by the government. "I am thinking of coming out with a scheme that any MSME that needs to spend any amount of money to register their products any where in the world, particularly for new products, new markets, new exporters, the government will fund the whole cost," Goyal said here on June 9 while addressing Indian business delegation. The minister is here on an official visit to hold meetings with Swiss leaders and companies to boost trade and investments between the two countries. This scheme is expected to be part of the Export Promotion Mission (EPM), which was announced in the Budget. It may include 12 components, including easy credit schemes for MSMEs, e-commerce exporters, facilitation of overseas warehousing, and global branding initiatives, to tap emerging export opportunities and strengthen trade tools for small businesses. The EPM is divided into two broad categories - Providing Trade Finance Support (NIRYAT PROTSAHAN) and Driving International Holistic Market Access (NIRYAT DISHA) Initiative. The country's total exports of goods and services have increased to $825 billion in 2024-25 from $778 billion in the previous fiscal. MSMEs account for over 40 per cent of the country's exports. Further, he urged the Indian industry to focus on exporting value-added goods and run campaigns for brand building and marketing. "I would urge you to come with an idea for the government to support (exporters) in brand building, in getting registrations around the world. "We do a lot of rice exports, can we look at how to value add those exports. We need to brand the products, can we run campaigns, can we run joint campaigns to market Indian rice or grown in India rice," he suggested. To increase the area of exhibition in the country, the minister informed that the second phase of construction at Bharat Madapam has been authorised. "I have just authorised phase-2 of Bharat Mandapam, we are adding another few lakhs square feet," he said. Goyal added that a number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have been signed and implemented by India with countries including the UAE and Australia to provide greater market access to Indian exporters. He informed that active negotiations for FTAs are on with countries, including Oman, New Zealand, and the European Union (EU). India's FTA with the UAE helps the domestic industry to tap into the Gulf region, Africa and Central Europe. A similar pact was signed with the UK and four European nation bloc EFTA. "I am sure the EU will come in very soon, so in a short span of a year and a half, we will get an FTA with all the major European countries with whom we wish to do business," Goyal said, adding Brazil wants to restart talks on the India-Mercosur trade pact. With this South American bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay), India has a Preferential Trade Agreement. "We already have negotiations with Chile and Peru," he added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Russia skirts Western sanctions to ramp up its military footprint in Africa
This satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows trucks lined up on a dock as the Russian-flagged cargo ship, Siyanie Severa, unloads its cargo, May 29, 2025, in Bata, Equatorial Guinea. (Planet Labs PBC via AP) Even as it pounds Ukraine, Russia is expanding its military footprint in Africa, delivering sophisticated weaponry to sub-Saharan conflict zones where a Kremlin-controlled armed force is on the rise. Skirting sanctions imposed by Western nations, Moscow is using cargo ships to send tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and other high-value equipment to West Africa, The Associated Press has found. Relying on satellite imagery and radio signals, AP tracked a convoy of Russian-flagged cargo ships as they made a nearly one-month journey from the Baltic Sea. The ships carried howitzers, radio jamming equipment and other military hardware, according to military officials in Europe who closely monitored them. The deliveries could strengthen Russia's fledgling Africa Corps as Moscow competes with the United States, Europe and China for greater influence across the continent. The two-year-old Africa Corps, which has links to a covert branch of Russia's army, is ascendant at a time when US and European troops have been withdrawing from the region, forced out by sub-Saharan nations turning to Russia for security. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have been battling fighters linked with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group for more than a decade. At first, mercenary groups with an arms-length relationship to the Kremlin entered the fray in Africa. But increasingly, Russia is deploying its military might, and intelligence services, more directly. "We intend to expand our cooperation with African countries in all spheres, with an emphasis on economic cooperation and investments," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "This cooperation includes sensitive areas linked to defense and security." From the ports, Russian weapons are trucked to Mali Russia's 8,800-tonne Baltic Leader and 5,800-tonne Patria are among hundreds of ships that Western nations have sanctioned to choke off resources for Russia's war in Ukraine. The ships docked and unloaded in Conakry, Guinea, in late May, AP satellite images showed. Other ships made deliveries to the same port in January. They delivered tanks, armoured vehicles and other hardware that was then trucked overland to neighbouring Mali, according to European military officials and a Malian blogger's video of the long convoy. The military officials spoke to AP about Russian operations on condition of anonymity. The AP verified the blogger's video, geolocating it to the RN5 highway leading into Bamako, the Malian capital. After the latest delivery in Conakry, trucks carrying Russian-made armoured vehicles, howitzers and other equipment were again spotted on the overland route to Mali. Malian broadcaster ORTM confirmed that the West African nation's army took delivery of new military equipment.