A small but significant takeway from the just-concluded Bengal Global Summit is the announcement of a roll-on roll-off service that will ferry trucks from three points on the east bank of River Hooghly to the west bank, eliminating road movement.
Barges, each with a capacity to carry 25 loaded trucks, are being readied for commencement of the service from February 2, 2018, Rajiv Agarwal, managing director, Tirupati Vancom Pvt. Ltd. (TVPL) told The Hindu . The service would be introduced through Tirupati Vessels Pvt. Ltd., a sister concern. He said the company had signed a deal with the West Bengal Transport Department to move about 1,500 trucks, from the port and industrial fringes of the city in Budge Budge, Garden Reach and Diamond Harbour to Uluberia, Howrah and Haldia on the opposite bank of the river. While the vessels have been made in Mumbai, the technology for this roll-on roll-off service is from Korea. The company will invest ₹150 crore in this venture from its internal funds, of which ₹110 crore is for building the jetties, according to Mr. Agarwal.
On the new RO-RO policy announced by State Finance Minister Amit Mitra on Wednesday, Mr. Agarwal said he was yet to know the finer details. “However, this is a capital-intensive business which helps combat air-pollution and we would welcome any subsidy,” he said.
Fly ash transportation
Tirupati Vancom is engaged in moving fly ash from one power station each in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. While 60% of the fly ash generated by the Budge Budge plant of CESC is sent through waterways to Bangladesh, the fly ash generated at APGENCO (Tirupati Vancom also has a deal with this utility) is supplied to domestic cement companies. Its clients include Zuari Cement Limited, UltraTech Cement Limited , India Cement Limited, Pyramid Chemicals Limited and plants at Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.
The company has tugs and barges at its disposal and has already moved cargo through national waterways to Assam.
