Govt nod to dissolution of Central Inland Water Transport Corp

Due to inherent limitation and infrastructure bottlenecks, the operations of CIWTC could never become viable and company only have 5 employees at present

Cabinet on Wednesday approved the dissolution of the Central Inland Water Transport Corporation Limited (CIWTC) as part of the government's move to identify and close down "irretrievable" cases.

The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for dissolution of CIWTC. The Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) for CIWTC was implemented in the year 2015, an official statement said.

CIWTC, a company incorporated in February 1967, took over assets and liabilities of the erstwhile River Steam Navigation Company Ltd under a scheme approved by the Calcutta High Court, it added.

"Due to inherent limitation and infrastructure bottlenecks, the operations of CIWTC could never become viable and the company has been incurring losses since inception. The company has only five employees at present," the statement said.

In line with the decision of the government to revitalise sick CPSUs wherever possible or to wind up irretrievable cases, the dissolution of the CIWTC would be initiated after disposal of movable and immovable assets, it added.

This would free up the assets for better utilisation and for benefit of the people. A number of assets would be taken up by Inland Waterways Authority of India to provide services on Brahmputra River (NW-4), it said.