KoPT plans economic zone cum extended terminal at Balagarh

Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) today said it was planning an economic zone cum extended terminal for cargo at Balagarh near here, using the National Waterways-1 to transport goods between Haldia and Allahabad.
"National Waterways-1 is coming up. We have mooted an idea to build a cargo terminal at Balagarh which is about 40-45 km from Kolkata, to overcome city decongestion for North bound cargo from Haldia and Kolkata docks using NW-1," KoPT Chairman Vineet Kumar said here at a CII-organised event.
He said as KoPT had 300 acres of land in place at the location, it can act as an economic zone and "we propose to invite industries to set up their operations here", he said.

The facility for which a DPR will be ready by the next three months, is expected to be a win-win situation for both industries and ports.
Kumar said the extended terminal gateway of Balagarh can act as a storing hub for cargo from Haldia and Kolkata docks, for their onward journey via waterways or by road.
This will also bring down the turnaround time and help in decongesting the city.

Kumar said a RoRo service is expected to commence shortly after its successful trials.
"This service will able to ferry about 150-180 Howrah bound trucks from Kiderpore docks or one-third of the total average truck movement. This is targeted to decongest city and overcome vehicular movement restrictions during day time," the KoPT head said.

Kumar added that its bulk outer terminal-II project at Haldia and Salukhali liquid terminals will add to the overall eight million ton capacity.