Now, Tata Chem, Iffco to move cargo by inland waterways

After NTPC Ltd, two more companies have agreed to ply their cargo through inland waterways. Tata Chemicals Ltd and Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (Iffco) would transport 225,000 tonnes of fertilisers through National Waterway 1, a senior official in Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) said.

The cargo will then be distributed across 105 blocks along the Allahabad-Haldia stretch of Ganga. IWAI is waiting for the feasibility report on the project to determine the break-even period which will then decide the duration over which this cargo will be transported.

In the last financial year, 7 million tonnes (mt) of cargo was handled by inland waterways. There is a thrust on pushing greater private investment in the inland waterways from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). “Rhine and the Danube are lifelines of transport in Europe. And there is no reason why the National Waterway 1 cannot be a river based industrial corridor,” said PMO in a press release recently.

The National Waterway 1 runs from Haldia to Allahabad.

The two major factors that have kept private players from investing in this sector, are lack of adequate infrastructure in terms of navigation, least acceptable depth and last mile connectivity and secondly, lack of long-term commitment of cargo.

“The shift from rail and road to inland waterways will come only when the sector is made attractive for the private sector, by way of tax concessions and better connectivity and navigational facilities,” said K Mohandas, former shipping secretary.

IWAI has found encouragement from the NTPC agreement to transport coal to its 2,100-Mw power plant located at Farakka in West Bengal through NW1. The government body is also approaching cement companies for using inland waterways as the mode of transportation.

IWAI is also acquiring land at the national highway at Guwahati to provide road connectivity near Pandu, which is part of the National Waterway 2, which runs from Sadiya in Assam to the Bangladeshi border.

The Maritime Agenda 2020 by the shipping ministry says a quantum jump in public investment is required to develop this sector. Since 1986-87, the total investment made by IWAI on IWT infrastructure is less than Rs 1,000 crore, which is “insignificant compared to investments made in rail and road sectors, the shipping ministry document says.