Panaji: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s maritime-focused budget, covering inland waterways, seaplane connectivity, ship-repair hubs, and last-mile logistics, stirred cautious optimism within Goa’s logistics community.“It’s definitely a step in the right direction and shows the importance govt is giving to transport by water, whether inland waterways or coastal shipping,” said Anthony Gaskel, director at Sentrans Shipping Pvt Ltd. “We’ll need to study the details with our members and get their feedback.”
The Budget proposes a Coastal Cargo Promotion scheme to incentivise a modal shift from rail and road, aiming to increase the share of inland waterways and coastal shipping from 6% to 12% by 2047.However, Tamal Roy, group president at J M Baxi Group, said the scheme covers only specified inland waterway routes, not India’s coastal shipping routes. He called the announcements “baby steps” towards promoting inland waterways.“It can help only if the scheme includes coastal routes direct from Indian port to Indian port,” he said. “Apart from subsidies, we need dedicated coastal berths at Goa or Mormugao port, as at other west coast ports. Dedicated coastal berths require minimal customs paperwork and intervention.”The sustained investments and support in logistics infrastructure and inland waterways are expected to enhance multimodal connectivity, improve cargo movement, and promote sustainable transport solutions—prayers that Goa’s logistics players made for five decades.States with coastal access, ports, and inland waterways like Goa stand to benefit through increased industrial activity, while barge operators could also benefit.Roy cautioned that previous initiatives, including a coastal cargo reimbursement scheme, failed to gain traction, underscoring the need to examine the broader policy landscape.
