<p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has set an ambitious target to double the share of coastal shipping and inland waterways in India's freight movement from the current 6% to 12% by 2047, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal announced at a Consultative Committee meeting in Puri on 3 November 2026 </span><span class="">. The announcement places maritime modal shift at the centre of India's long-term logistics strategy, alongside an equally ambitious target to attract one million sea cruise passengers by 2029.</span><span class="_5f9bba8" data-citation-group="1" style="margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px;"><a href="https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2332260&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="1" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><a href="https://infrastructuretoday.co.in/india-targets-doubling-coastal-waterway-freight-share-by-2047/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="5" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a></span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The Coastal Cargo Promotion Scheme, announced in the Union Budget 2026-27, is the primary instrument for achieving the freight target. It will offer incentives to cargo owners, coastal vessel operators, and multimodal transport operators who move cargo by more than one means of transport, such as ship, rail, and road </span><span class="">. The logic is to make coastal transportation commercially attractive relative to road and rail, and to encourage industries to shift suitable cargo to maritime routes. The scheme is expected to create more than 560,000 jobs and save 16 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, according to the ministry </span><span class="">.</span><span class="_5f9bba8" data-citation-group="3" style="margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px;"><a href="https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2332260&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="1" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><a href="https://infrastructuretoday.co.in/india-targets-doubling-coastal-waterway-freight-share-by-2047/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="5" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><a href="https://www.business-standard.com/economy/news/centre-targets-12-coastal-freight-share-by-2047-says-minister-sonowal-126110400001_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="13" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a></span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The growth trajectory that the target builds on is substantial. Coastal cargo at Indian ports has surged from 74 million tonnes to 177 million tonnes over the past 12 years, a growth of approximately 140% </span><span class="">. India's coastline of more than 11,000 kilometres provides a natural advantage for moving freight over long distances, and the minister framed the coastline and rivers as "engines of growth" for a Viksit Bharat </span><span class="">.</span><span class="_5f9bba8" data-citation-group="7" style="margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px;"><a href="https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2332260&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="1" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><a href="https://www.business-standard.com/economy/news/centre-targets-12-coastal-freight-share-by-2047-says-minister-sonowal-126110400001_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="13" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a></span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The cruise dimension of the announcement adds a tourism and employment component to the maritime agenda. India recorded 462,661 ocean cruise passengers and 212 vessel calls in FY 2025-26, representing a 5.5-fold increase in passenger traffic and a 2.1-fold rise in vessel calls since 2013-14 </span><span class="">. The Cruise Bharat Mission, launched in September 2024, targets one million sea cruise passengers and 400,000 jobs by March 2029. Twenty river cruise circuits across 16 National Waterways are already operational, with 51 more identified for phased development, and 143 river cruise terminals and landing points in operation </span><span class="">.</span><span class="_5f9bba8" data-citation-group="10" style="margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px;"><a href="https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2332260&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="1" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><a href="https://infrastructuretoday.co.in/india-targets-doubling-coastal-waterway-freight-share-by-2047/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="5" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a></span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">The Puri International Cruise Terminal was the most concrete infrastructure announcement. It will be developed by Paradip Port Authority in partnership with the Government of Odisha at an estimated cost of ₹1,500 crore </span><span class="">. The project is intended to strengthen Odisha's maritime tourism infrastructure and open opportunities to attract international cruise operators to the state's coastline. For a state that has historically been associated with bulk cargo rather than passenger shipping, the terminal represents a diversification of its maritime economy.</span><span class="_5f9bba8" data-citation-group="13" style="margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px;"><a href="https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2332260&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="1" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><a href="https://www.business-standard.com/economy/news/centre-targets-12-coastal-freight-share-by-2047-says-minister-sonowal-126110400001_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="13" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a></span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">National Waterway-5 in Odisha received renewed emphasis as a connectivity project. Estimated at more than ₹13,000 crore, the waterway is designed to link the mineral-rich regions of Talcher and Angul with industrial centres such as Kalinganagar and with the ports of Paradip and Dhamra on the east coast </span><span class="">. If developed with adequate terminals and last-mile connectivity, NW-5 could provide bulk industries with an alternative route for moving minerals and industrial cargo to coastal ports, reducing logistics costs for Odisha's coal, steel, and aluminium clusters.</span><span class="_5f9bba8" data-citation-group="15" style="margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px;"><a href="https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2332260&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="1" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a><a href="https://www.business-standard.com/economy/news/centre-targets-12-coastal-freight-share-by-2047-says-minister-sonowal-126110400001_1.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" aria-label="13" style="color: rgb(57, 100, 254); transition: box-shadow 0.2s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1); border-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); border-width: 2px 3px; margin-left: -3px; margin-right: -3px; text-decoration: none; position: relative;"></a></span></p><p class="ds-markdown-paragraph" style="margin: 16px 0px; color: rgb(15, 17, 21); font-family: quote-cjk-patch, Inter, system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="">For India's shipping and logistics sector, the 2047 target and the associated schemes represent a long-term policy commitment that will shape investment decisions in coastal vessels, terminals, and multimodal infrastructure. The current 6% share is modest relative to the potential, and the pathway to 12% requires not only incentives but also the resolution of operational constraints—cabotage rules, port connectivity, and the availability of suitable vessels—that have historically limited coastal shipping's competitiveness. The announcement sets the direction; the implementation will determine whether the target is achievable.</span></p>