To promote Inland Water Transport (IWT) in the country, 111 waterways, have been declared as National Waterways under the National Waterways Act, 2016. Of these, 5 waterways were already recognized as National Waterways while 106 were declared later.
The list of these NWs is as follows –
111 – NATIONAL WATERWAYS LIST
| National Waterway Number | Name of National Waterways | Len-gth | State |
| 1. | Ganga – Bhagirathi – Hooghly | 1620 | UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal |
| 2. | Brahmaputra | 891 | Assam |
| 3. | West Coast Canal along with Champakara & Udyogmandal Canal | 365 | Kerala |
| 4. | Kakinada Puducherry Canal alongwith Godavari & Krishna rivers | 2890 | Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telanagana |
| 5. | East Coast Canal along with Brahmani& Mahanadi Delta | 588 | Odisha, West Bengal |
| 6. | Aai | 71 | Assam |
| 7. | Ajoy (Ajay) | 96 | West Bengal |
| 8. | Alappuzha- Changanassery Canal | 28 | Kerala |
| 9. | Alappuzha- Kottayam- Athirampuzha Canal | 38 | Kerala |
| 10. | Amba River | 45 | Maharashtra |
| 11. | Arunawati/ Aran River | 98 | Maharashtra |
| 12. | Asi | 5.5 | UP |
| 13. | AVM Canal (Kanyakumari to Kollam) | 11 | Tamil Nadu |
| 14. | Baitarni River | 49 | Odisha |
| 15. | Bakreswar/ Mayurakshi River | 137 | West Bengal |
| 16. | Barak | 121 | Assam |
| 17. | Beas | 191 | HP & Punjab |
| 18. | Beki | 73 | Assam |
| 19. | Betwa | 68 | UP |
| 20. | Bhavani River | 94 | Tamil Nadu |
| 21. | Bheema | 139 | Telangana Karnataka |
| 22. | Birupa/ BadiGenguti/ Brahmani River System | 156 | Odisha |
| 23. | BudhaBalanga | 56 | Odisha |
| 24. | Chambal | 60 | UP |
| 25 | Chapora | 33 | Goa |
| 26 | Chenab | 53 | J&K & Punjab |
| 27 | Cumberjua | 17 | Goa |
| 28 | Dabhol Creek/ Vasishti river | 45 | Maharashtra |
| 29 | Damodar | 135 | West Bengal |
| 30 | Dehing | 114 | Assam |
| 31 | Dhansiri/ Chathe | 110 | Assam |
| 32 | Dikhu | 63 | Assam |
| 33 | Doyans | 61 | Assam |
| 34 | DVC Canal | 130 | West Bengal |
| 35 | Dwarekeswar | 113 | West Bengal |
| 36 | Dwarka | 121 | West Bengal |
| 37 | Gandak | 300 | Bihar & UP |
| 38 | Gangadhar | 62 | Assam & West Bengal |
| 39 | Ganol River | 49 | Meghalaya |
| 40 | Ghaghra River | 340 | Bihar & UP |
| 41 | Ghataprabha | 112 | Karnataka |
| 42 | Gomti | 518 | UP |
| 43 | Gurupur | 10 | Karnataka |
| 44 | Ichamati | 64 | West Bengal |
| 45 | Indira Gandhi Canal | 650 | Haryana, Punjab & Rajasthan |
| 46 | Indus | 35 | J&K |
| 47 | Jalangi | 131 | West Bengal |
| 48 | Jawai-Luni river &Rann of Kutch | 590 | Rajasthan & Gujarat |
| 49 | Jhelum | 110 | J&K |
| 50 | Jinjiram River | 43 | Meghalaya & Assam |
| 51 | Kabini | 23 | Karnataka |
| 52 | Kali | 54 | Karnataka |
| 53 | Kalyan – Thane – Mumbai Waterway, Vasai creek &Ulhas river | 145 | Maharashtra |
| 54 | Karamnasa | 86 | UP & Bihar |
| 55 | Kaveri/ Kollidam river | 364 | Tamil Nadu |
| 56 | Kherkai | 23 | Jharkhand |
| 57 | Kopili River | 46 | Assam |
| 58 | Koshi | 236 | Bihar |
| 59 | Kottayam- Vaikom Canal | 28 | Kerala |
| 60 | Kumari | 77 | West Bengal |
| 61 | Kynshi River | 28 | Meghalaya |
| 62 | Lohit | 100 | Assam |
| 63 | Luni | 327 | Rajasthan |
| 64 | Mahanadi | 425 | Odisha |
| 65 | Mahananda | 81 | West Bengal |
| 66 | Mahi | 248 | Gujarat |
| 67 | Malaprabha | 94 | Karnataka |
| 68 | Mandovi | 41 | Goa |
| 69 | Manimutharu | 5 | Tamil Nadu |
| 70 | Manjara | 242 | Maharashtra, &Telangana |
| 71 | Mapusa/ Moide river | 27 | Goa |
| 72 | Nag | 60 | Maharashtra |
| 73 | Narmada | 227 | Gujarat |
| 74 | Netravathi | 78 | Karnataka |
| 75 | Palar | 141 | Tamil Nadu |
| 76 | Panchagangavali (Panchagangoli) | 23 | Karnataka |
| 77 | Pazhyar | 20 | Tamil Nadu |
| 78 | Penganga/ Wardha | 265 | Maharashtra &Telangana |
| 79 | Pennar | 29 | Andhra Pradesh |
| 80 | Ponniyar | 125 | Tamil Nadu |
| 81 | Punpun | 35 | Bihar |
| 82 | Puthimari | 72 | Assam |
| 83 | Rajpuri creek | 31 | Maharashtra |
| 84 | Ravi | 42 | HP & J&K |
| 85 | Revdanda Creek/ Kundalika river | 31 | Maharashtra |
| 86 | Rupnarayan River | 72 | West Bengal |
| 87 | Sabarmati | 212 | Gujarat |
| 88 | Sal | 14 | Goa |
| 89 | Savitri River (Bankot creek) | 46 | Maharashtra |
| 90 | Sharavati River | 29 | Karnataka |
| 91 | Shastri River/ Jaigad creek | 52 | Maharashtra |
| 92 | Silabati | 26 | West Bengal |
| 93 | Simsang River | 62 | Meghalaya |
| 94 | Sone | 160 | Bihar |
| 95 | Subansiri | 111 | Assam |
| 96 | Subarnrekha River | 314 | Jharkhand, West Bengal & Odisha |
| 97 | Sunderbans Waterway | 654 | West Bengal |
| Bidya river | West Bengal | ||
| ChhotaKalagachi (ChhotoKalergachi) river | West Bengal | ||
| Gomar | West Bengal | ||
| Haribhanga river | West Bengal | ||
| Hogla (Hogal) – Pathankhali river | West Bengal | ||
| Kalindi (Kalandi) river | West Bengal | ||
| Katakhali river | West Bengal | ||
| Matla river | West Bengal | ||
| Muri Ganga (Baratala) river | West Bengal | ||
| Raimangal river | West Bengal | ||
| Sahibkhali (Sahebkhali) river | West Bengal | ||
| Saptamukhi river | West Bengal | ||
| Thakurran river | West Bengal | ||
| 98 | Sutlej | 377 | Punjab & HP |
| 99 | Tamaraparani | 64 | Tamil Nadu |
| 100 | Tapi | 436 | Maharashtra & Gujarat |
| 101 | Tizu / Zungki Rivers | 42 | Nagaland |
| 102 | Tlawng (Dhaleswari) | 86 | Mizoram |
| 103 | Tons | 73 | UP |
| 104 | Tungabhadra | 230 | Telangana, Karnataka & AP |
| 105 | Udayavara | 16 | Karnataka |
| 106 | Umngot (Dawki) River | 20 | Meghalaya |
| 107 | Vaigai | 45 | Tamil Nadu |
| 108 | Varuna River | 53 | UP |
| 109 | Wainganga / Pranahita River | 164 | Maharashtra &Telangana |
| 110 | Yamuna | 1089 | Haryana, UP & Delhi |
| 111 | Zuari | 50 | Goa |
| TOTAL | 20,275 |
Out of the 106 newly declared NWs, 32 NWs have been found technically feasible and 20 NWs found unviable for development for navigational purposes as per feasibility reports. Out of the 32 viable NWs, the development process has been initiated on 7 NWs and the status of development of these NWs is as follows:-
| S. No. | Status of Development of Seven new National Waterways | |
| 1 | River Barak (NW 16): | Dredging work for development of fairway has been awarded. Consultant has been engaged for preparation of DPR for upgradation of terminals at Badarpur, Karimganj and construction of new floating terminal at Silchar. |
| 2 | 03 (Three) Waterways in Goa (NW- 27:Cumberjua, NW 68 – Mandovi,
NW 111 – Zuari ): |
A proposal for development of these NWs at a cost of Rs.22.65 crores has been approved on 02.06.2017. Work would be executed through Government of Goa with the assistance of Mormugao Port Trust. |
| 3 | Alappuzha–Kottayam– Athirampuzha Canal (NW-9) : | Proposal for development of the fairway at a cost of Rs.1.60 crores has been approved on 02.06.2017. |
| 4 | River Gandak (NW-37) : | Proposal for development of the fairway and two floating terminals at a cost of Rs.12.91 crores has been approved on 02.06.2017. |
| 5 | River Rupnarayan (NW-86) : | Proposal for development of fairway and one floating pontoon at a cost of Rs.24.00 crores has been approved on 02.06.2017. |
Feasibility studies on the remaining 52 waterways are being done by IWAI and studies for 2 NWs have been taken up by the respective State Governments separately.