IWAI is a statutory body of the Ministry of Shipping, Government of India (GoI). IWAI was set up in 1986 for regulation and development of Inland Waterways for the purposes of shipping and navigation. IWAI is primarily responsible for development, maintenance and regulation of Inland Water Transport (IWT) on the National Waterways (NWs) in the country. Presently, there are 111 new NWs in the country. IWT has the potential to provide a cost efficient, economic, reliable, safe and environmental friendly mode of transport. When developed for use by modern inland vessels operating on dependable fairway, it can reduce congestion and investment needs in rail and road infrastructure, promote greater complementarities in the riparian states, enhance intra-regional trade and, through increased economies of scale, significantly reduce overall logistics costs for the benefit of the entire economy and India's global trade competitiveness. NWs of India are well in line to become the lifeline of the country. Not only will these NWs serve the transportation obligations of our nation, but also have the potential to serve as recreational centres and promote tourism activities. The head office of the IWAI is at Noida. IWAI also has its regional offices at Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi and sub-offices at Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhaglapur, Farakka, Hemnagar, Dibrugarh (Assam), Kollam, Bhubaneswar (Odisha) and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).