The Centre’s ambitious waterway project connecting the 1,625-kilometre stretch between Allahabad and Haldia of the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system will start soon. The World Bank has provided the Rs 4,200-crore fund needed for the project, which is expected to draw investments worth Rs 80,000 crore on its completion.
“The idea behind creating robust waterways is to create alternative routes for transporting cargo and passengers. This will not only generate employment for about 1.5 lakh people, but also earn revenue for the Government both from trade and tourism,” said an official from the Ministry of Shipping.
“Building inland water transport has an edge over the other modes of transport as it is the cheapest mode of ferrying bulk shipments between places situated along the waterfront. It is energy-efficient and causes little pollution. Besides, it holds immense potential for employment generation across services,” he said.
The Ministry of Shipping plans to start conducting dredging to provide a width of 45 metres and five-metre draft (depth) to enable navigation of small ships between Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Hooghly in West Bengal on the river in the first stage of its development.
The Ministry also plans to construct barrages cum bridges at every 100 km over the river.
“We plans to create 23 terminals along the way, which will create more trade opportunity for businessmen along the coasts,” said the official.
“The Minister (Nitin Gadkari) also wants to develop tourism hubs all along the banks of the Ganga to generate revenues,” he said.
The Government is hoping that this project will give a boost to the shipping industry.
“There is a lot of potential, which is lying untapped. Once the waterways are built, it will lead to an increase in exports, which will automatically give a push to the country’s GDP, which has been at an all-time low in the last 2-3 years,” said the official.
Since assuming charge of the Ministries of Road, Highways and Shipping, Gadkari has repeatedly said that these sectors alone will boost the GDP by at least two per cent from the existing 4.5 per cent in the next two years.
In the Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also proposed to create 16 new ports under public-private-partnership. The Minister had also set aside Rs 11,600 crore for the development of Outer Harbour Tuticorin Port.