Beyond roads and rails: How Rs 12,000-crore National Waterway-5 could turn Odisha into India’s maritime powerhouse

Officials in the Odisha government said they have now decided to expedite the project following the implementation of the Odisha Maritime Board. The special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed earlier was repurposed and reconstituted to include the state government, IWAI and Paradip Port Trust. Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, has also evinced interest in participating in the SPV.

A fresh feasibility study was conducted by IIT Madras, while the government estimated that a budgetary provision of Rs 12,000-13,000 crore would be required for the 588-km-long waterway.

“The state government has already given its consent to the IWAI that it will support in terms of providing land required for the project and financial support up to Rs 4,000 crore. The IWAI will implement the project through the SPV,” Odisha’s Commerce and Transport Secretary Usha Padhee told The Indian Express.

Officials said the inland waterway will strengthen multimodal logistics and unlock new opportunities for trade and skilled maritime employment.

The proposed waterway along the Brahmani river and the Mahanadi delta will link the industrial hub of Kalinganagar, which houses several steel plants, with the major ports at Paradip and Dhamra, official sources said. It will also connect the state’s mineral hub in Angul district.

Officials said the IWAI has already prepared the detailed project report, design and engineering of cross structures along the waterway with assistance from IIT Madras.

Welcoming the finance minister’s Budget announcement, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said NW-5 would reduce logistical pressure on railways and roads. He said the project would help Odisha emerge as an industrial and logistics hub on the east coast.

Majhi also welcomed the Centre’s decision to develop a rare-earth corridor including Odisha.

During the India Maritime Week 2025 held in Mumbai on October 27, 2025, an MoU was signed between the IWAI, Paradip Port Authority, Odisha Maritime Board and Ministry of Coal for the operationalisation of NW-5 for an amount of Rs 12,204 crore, Odisha’s Commerce and Transport Secretary Padhee said.

“By facilitating the modal shift of coal, minerals, and steel from road and rail to waterways, NW-5 will help decongest transport networks, reduce logistics costs, and lower carbon emissions, aligning with India’s sustainability goals,” said Padhee.

She said the project is expected to stimulate regional economic growth, generate employment across the logistics value chain, and strengthen multimodal connectivity between inland industrial clusters and coastal ports, further advancing port-led industrialisation.