INLAND
WATER TRANSPORT
With a view to giving
an impetus to Inland Water Transport (IWT) sector and to encourage
private sector participation in IWT infrastructure development
and ownership and operation of inland vessels, the government
has approved the IWT Policy wherein several policy measures and
incentives to private sector have been included. To bring in more
traffic in the Inland Water Transport mode, the government was
provided tax exemption to investors. Rate of depreciation for
all vessels operating in National Waterways has been fixed at
25 per cent at par with ocean going vessels. Several projects
for fairway improvement and river training work have been initiated
and at present work is going on for construction of permanent
terminal vital Inland Water locations. To boost traffic, Government
has introduced a Vessel Building Subsidy Scheme granting 30 per
cent subsidy for Inland Water Vessels built in Indian Shipyards.
This information was
given in the Lok Sabha today by Shri S. Thirunavukkarasar, Minister
of State for Shipping in a written reply to a question by Shri
Y.V.Rao.
