New Delhi, Aug. 17 -- India is stepping up its inland waterways push after cargo traffic surged nearly eightfold in just over a decade. The government now plans to develop more than a dozen new national waterways (NWs) over next five to 10 years, with investments of over Rs.10,000 crore, two people aware of the matter said. The next leg will also focus on turning them into commercially-viable corridors. The push aims to expand India's operational waterways network and achieve the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 target of having more than 50 national waterways capable of handling cargo and passenger traffic well ahead of target. The government has also identified 19 more waterways, primarily for cruise tourism and passenger ferry operations, based on techno-economic feasibility studies and detailed project reports. Some of these could subsequently be upgraded for cargo movement, said the first person quoted above. Cargo movement on national waterways rose nearly eightfold from 29 million tonnes (mt) in 2014-15 to 218 mt in 2025-26, surpassing the 200 mt target for 2030. "We have achieved the 2030 target.in FY26 itself," said the second person....