The government is looking to harness the country?s 50,000 km of sea and river fronts as waterways and is mulling over innovative ways of financing to raise around Rs 70,000 crore to develop these stretches in the first phase, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said. By passing the crucial bill to declare 111 rivers across the country into National Waterways, Parliament has paved the way for development of these stretches as transport carriers.