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As was discussed in the earlier section, for better port connections, India has also laid out a plan for interlinking rivers and promoting inland water ways. As part of this initiative ‘the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, had given its approval for the implementation of the Waterways development project which is known as Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for capacity augmentation of navigation on National Waterway-1 (NW-1) at a cost of Rs 536.918 million rupees with the technical assistance and investment support of the World Bank’ (Press Information Bureau, 2018). The multi-modal terminals are being built as part of the central government’s ‘Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) that aims to develop the stretch of the river Ganga between Varanasi and Haldia for navigation of large vessels weighing up to 1,500-2,000 tonnes. The JMVP entails construction of three multi-modal terminals (Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia); two inter-modal terminals; five roll on-roll off terminal pairs; new navigation lock at Farakka; assured depth dredging; integrated vessel repair’(The Economic Times, 2018).

Meanwhile, India has been working on integrating the national economic corridors and also creating a network of industrial cities, smart cities and also select export promotion zones. These initiatives have been complemented with initiatives which are sub-regional in character. The purpose is to integrate the Indian economy and also promote services and manufacturing with dedicated planning for certain sectors in select areas. Furthermore, a river linking plan is also expected to address issues related to potable water, irrigation and maintaining the water table across the country, as a means of addressing challenges related to floods and drought. However, the inland waterways project faces challenges in terms of the development of terminals, low water flow in certain dry seasons leading to difficulty in navigation and additional costs in terms of dredging and cleaning the waterways from encroachments along the riverbed.

FIGURE 2: THE HIMALAYAN AND PENINSULAR COMPONENTS OF NRLP PROJECT

Source: (Prabhu, 2014)

While these initiatives have in a way created a roadmap for infrastructure development in the country, the major issue is regarding the implementation and time bound development of the adjoining areas. However, with the integration at the national level, the dividends can be reaped through sub-regional connectivity.