Seeking to tap the huge potential of the Inland Waterways Transport (IWT), the Prime Minister's Office has identified seven mega projects and corridors all over the country — entailing an outlay of Rs. 2,100 crore — for private sector investment in the 12 Plan. This would throw open new opportunities in transportation of bulk cargo, including imported and domestic coal, and food grains through the inland waterway system.
At a recent meeting held in the office of Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Pulok Chatterjee, it was decided that major thrust should be given to attract private investment in these seven corridors. The major beneficiaries would be NTPC's upcoming power plants at Kahalgaon and Barh in Bihar and Bongaigaon in Assam.
Corridors for transportation of food grains of the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from North India/Kolkata to Tripura via Ashuganj and within the State of Assam; containers between Pandu (Guwahati) and Kolkata; shipment of pipes of ONGC from Kolkata to the north east; ferrying of fertilizers on National Waterway (NW-1) between Allahabad/Varanasi and Kolkata; perishable cargo (produced in Meghalaya and West Garo Hills) from South bank of Brahmaputra to Dhubri on North bank; North/South bank connectivity through roll on-roll off ferries are the seven projects identified for private sector investment.
The transportation of coal through NW-1 is for NTPC's super critical power plant at Barh in Bihar where it is setting up a 3300 MW power plant in two stages — 3x660 MW and 2x660 MW. The annual coal requirement for the Barh plant would be around 16 million tonnes per annum. The coal linkage is from Amrapali block of North Karanpura coal fields, which is to be transported through the rail route. This coal can be transported through NW-1 through IWT. It is estimated that this facility will require an investment of around Rs. 1,200 crore.
Another investment of around Rs. 550 crore has been identified for the IWT terminal at Jogighopa with a coal handling facility and for transportation of food grains from FCI by IWT mode in Kolkata-Tripura (through Ashuganj) route. At present, FCI food grains are moving by rail and road to the NE States and the same could be transported effectively by IWT. Food grains could also be moved from Kolkata to Tripura by IWT mode by transhipment at Ashuganj in Bangladesh in view of circuitous road and rail connectivity to Tripura.
Similarly, a Rs.120-crore investment project has been identified for transportation of containers by IWT mode on the Kolkata-Pandu-Kolkata and Kolkata-Patna-Kolkata routes. The PMO has also pitched for transportation of pipes and other cargo of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India Ltd from Kolkata to Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Karimganj, Agartala via Ashuganj. Another corridor identified is for transportation of fertilizers by IWT mode in Varanasi-Kolkata.
