To facilitate faster and cheaper movement of cargo traffic along waterways, the Government has planned to build a multi-modal logistics terminal in Varanasi. The Ministries of Shipping and Railways signed an agreement on Thursday to create its first multi-mode logistical hub in Varanasi, complete with rail-road and water connectivity.
Ministry of Shipping will fund the project from its Rs4,200 crore corpus, which it got for developing National Waterways-1 on the Allahabad-Haldia stretch. An Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIl) for jointly developing multi-modal logistics terminal at Varanasi on National Waterway-1 and other national waterways.
“Waterways has gained a lot importance for transportation of goods worldwide, including Japan, Korea and most part of Europe. It not just bring down transportation costs to one-fifth, as we compare it will railway and road transport but will also be eco-friendly,” said Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Shipping.
“Integration of roads, highways and waterways will create trade options as well as be cost effective,” he said. The Minister said the land acquisition process for the proposed terminal is underway. Gadkari said that the foundation stone should be laid within a three-month period..
“Once we integrate the three transport systems, it will benefit both trade as well as passenger traffic. It will also reduce travel time,” said Suresh Prabhu, Railway Minister.
The IWAI under the Ministry of Shipping will collaborate for the project with the DFCCIl under the Ministry of Railways, for the project and also facilitate business development in the hinterland and its feeder routes.
In Phase-I, DFCCIl will construct two Corridors, namely Eastern DFC traversing from ludhiana in Punjab to Dankuni in West Bengal and Western DFC extending from Dadari in National Capital Region to Jawaharlal Port (Mumbai) in Maharashtra. The National Waterway -1 runs parallel to the Allahabad and Varanasi stretch of the Eastern dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) of DFCCIl.
“We plan to develop water terminals all long Varanasi, Kaithy, Sahibganj, in Jharkhand, Haldia and Dankuni in West Bengal. The 1,839 kms long eastern rail freight corridor runs from ludhiana to Dankuni. So in multi-modal hubs like Varanasi, where there is rail and water connectivity, goods can be offloaded from rail wagons to barges, which can then be shipped on waterways to Dankuni and then brought to Kolkata” said an official from ministry of shipping.
“We plan to have vessel which can ferry a minimum capacity of 1,000-1,500 metric tonnes, which translates to 150 truckloads of cargo. This will be very cost effective and faster, especially for transporting over-dimensional and over-weight cargo,” he said.