National Waterways

Yusuf

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NEW DELHI: In a bid to tap the vast potential for bulk transportation of goods at low cost through inland waterways, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has initiated steps to fast-track development of such infrastructure by state-run and private firms.

India has about 14,500 km of navigable waterways comprising rivers, canals, backwaters and creeks that can be used to move cargo in a green, fuel-efficient mode. Like national highways, the country has three functional national waterways with two more underway.

"The initiative will harness huge potential of inland waterways in transporting bulk cargo like coal, foodgrains, fertilizers, project cargo, fly ash, and containers at competitive cost for public and private sector firms ," an official statement said.

"Adequate use of waterways will also ease the burden on rail and road infrastructure."

The statement came after a high level meeting at the Prime Minister's Office which noted that a pact among National Thermal Power Corp, Inland Waterways Authority of India and a private developer has led to competitive transportation rates for the state-run firm.

Investment worth Rs.650 crore has also been committed by the private sector.

The other decisions taken at the meeting include:

-Long-term cargo commitment of 3 million tonnes by National Thermal Power Corp for the Barh power project in Bihar once its five units start operations by 2016-17.

-Execution of a coal handling facility at Jogighopa in Assam with rail connectivity.

-Long-term cargo commitment by Food Corporation of India for three years to transport grains to Tripura and Assam from Kolkata and within Assam using inland waterways.

-Efforts my external affairs ministry for early completion of Ashuganj multi-modal port by Bangladesh and its regular use as a transit port.

-Shipping ministry to consider providing additional money to ensure night navigation on the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route.

-Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Oil India to convey a firm cargo commitment through inland waterways in two weeks.

-Container Corp to provide similar firm commitment for part-transportation of goods via inland waterways from their operations at Pandu in Assam.

"The progress on these decisions will be reviewed in two months time by the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister," the official statement added.

About 55 million tones of cargo moves annually through inland waterways but along a few stretches in Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly, Brahmaputra, Barak, rivers in Goa, backwaters of Kerala, inland waters in Mumbai and the deltaic regions of Krishna-Godavari.

The Times of India on Mobile
 

anoop_mig25

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well sorry but i keep hearing such steps in media while nothing happens on ground or it crawls . for last 10 or more years there is news in mumbai that GoM has considerning propsal for water transport it had remained stucked nothing happen on ground just feasibility study
 

Tomcat

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yes most of them are african haycian corverd quagmaires
 

Free Karma

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Inland waterways: How Nitin Gadkari is steering some of modern India's biggest infrastructure projects - The Economic Times

As minister of road transport and highways, and shipping, Nitin Gadkari runs a highly visible and critical ministry in the Narendra Modi government, but has — surprisingly — shown an averseness to the spotlight. He does talk occasionally to the press, as he did earlier this week about the prime minister asking him to prepare a policy to promote clean fuel. There is also the customary speech at government functions. Not to forget the odd controversy when he was snapped riding a scooter without a helmet or when he is said to have shown a keen interest in becoming the chief minister of Maharashtra, his home state.

But Gadkari has mostly maintained a low profile during the eight months in charge. That should not actually surprise in a government with Narendra Modi as head. An official at the shipping ministry said he and his colleagues respond to an enquiry from the Prime Minister's Office first and faster than they would do to a task from their minister. Gadkari may not be the man about town, but he has not been idle at work. Far from it, he has envisioned some of modern India's biggest infrastructure projects yet. They are all centred on inland waterways — an old, creaking and perennially ignored part of India's infrastructure — in his capacity as shipping minister. Each of the projects (see Gadkari's Big-Ticket Maritime Projects) has the potential to radically transform the economy and increase the competitiveness of Indian companies.



Ambitious Plans

Take Jal Marg Vikas, a World Bank-assisted project to develop the stretch on River Ganga between Haldia in West Bengal and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh and make it navigable for ships with a depth of at least 3 meters. The project, worth `4,200 crore, has the potential to serve a number of big cities such as Haldia, Howrah, Kolkata, Bhagalpur, Patna, Ghazipur, Varanasi and Allahabad, their industrial hinterlands, and several industries located along the Ganga basin.



The benefits are immense. As the rail and road corridors of this region are already saturated, the development of this stretch of the river would create an alternative mode of transport. Huge quantities of bulk cargo can pass through the river. Transport costs of shippers will fall. Increased cargo traffic on large vessels between Haldia and Farakka will boost the economy of these regions. Congestion and accidents on highways too will reduce. There is already an urgent demand to facilitate navigation by bigger vessels of 1,500 tonnage as many potential shippers (thermal power plants, cement companies, fertilizer companies, edible oil companies, Food Corporation of India) have shown interest, according to the details of the project prepared by the regulator Inland Waterways Authority of India.



No less significant is Gadkari's plan to declare 101 water bodies across the country as National Waterways (NWs) in one go. A river, creek or canal is developed by deploying dredgers to remove sand and silt and build accompanying infrastructure such as barges, storage facilities and container depots. But the government must first declare it as a National Waterway (the central government has jurisdiction over a NW, including development and regulation for shipping and navigation by vessels. Right over usage of water, ownership of adjacent land remain with state government as do jurisdiction over all other water bodies). To do so, the government requires approval from parliament, unlike the case of highways where a notification in the official gazette does the trick. That is cumbersome and time consuming, which is why since Independence, only five water bodies have been declared as NWs (see But there are only...).

Gadkari has proposed amending the Constitution to obviate the requirement of parliamentary approval for declaration of NWs. The shipping ministry has prepared a draft Cabinet note proposing to declare all the identified water bodies (see 101 National Waterways) as NWs through a single legislation instead of going through the motion of enacting separate legislations for each. The law ministry has sought more details on the new NWs. It has asked the shipping ministry to provide the exact location of the water bodies and the stretches that will be developed, among other details.

Both these initiatives are testimony to the foresight and deftness Gadkari has brought to the shipping ministry. India has an abundance of water bodies — rivers, canals, creeks, lakes and the like — that can be developed as viable inland waterways, but like much else, its maritime infrastructure has long been crying desperately for government attention.

Vinayak Chatterjee, chairman and managing director, Feedback Infrastructure Services, which advises companies, said he is pleased that the minister has zeroed in on a historically neglected sector. "India is blessed with a number of water bodies but this sector has been surprisingly neglected."


No kidding. Even the existing NWs, with the exception of the one in Kerala — its direct connection to the Cochin Port facilitates trade — are in name only and require immediate upgrade. Transport and logistics company Jindal ITF carries imported coal from Haldia NTPC's power plant at Farakka on NW1 but that is because it has customised its vessels. National Waterways 4 and 5 were declared in 2008, but it took the IWAI six years to simply open an office in the states concerned.

Multiple Benefits

Inland waterways offer a more efficient mode of transport than rail or road — a single barge has the dry-cargo capacity of 50 trucks or 15 railcars. (see Plenty of Potential). Barges are also not fuel gluttons, emit fewer greenhouse gases and cause far fewer deaths than either trains or trucks. Yet, government attention has always been fixated on railways and roads. Not that it has helped. Both these modes of transport are congested. That makes it all the more critical to give a facelift to inland waterways to make them a supplementary transport network (see Divertible Traffic From...). The eastern region is ideal for a waterway grid due to the proximity of NWs.



The number of ships calling at Indian ports has been rising — about 45,000 ships dock at Indian ports in a year; more than half the number at major ports — owing to increasing trade. Typically, when shipping to and from a country increases, so too does the use of inland waterways. India has proved to be an exception.

The primary mode of transport for much of India's exported commodities such as fly-ash, foodgrain, cement, stone chips and the like remains the railways, except when container ships are located within 300 km. Then roads become the preferred mode (for distances less than 100 km, pipelines are used to ship liquid petrochemicals).

According to the latest data from IWAI, India's inland waterways carried 70 million tonnes of exported commodities in 2012 compared with 55.82 million tonnes in 2008. More than 60% of this cargo was iron ore. Owing to the iron ore export ban in Goa, the size of exported commodities using inland waterways is estimated to have fallen to around 35 million tonnes in 2014.

These are dreadful statistics. The inland waters of the US, ,EU and China carry 615 million tonnes, 565 million tonnes and 1.1 billon tonnes of cargo, according to an IWAI paper published last November. The number of vessels carrying cargo that ply on their waters are 31,000, 11,000 and 200,000, respectively. Hardly 1,000 vessels pass through Indian waters. "These countries have maintained and upgraded their river systems on core routes that can support large modern vessel fleets up to 40,000 tonnes of cargo on a single voyage," said the IWAI paper. India is still looking to create depth in its waters for 1,500 tonnage vessels to pass through. Even poorer nations such as Bangladesh and Myanmar have developed superior inland waterways than India.

Shoddy State

It is not for lack of funds that India's inland waterways are so pathetic. Nearly 45% of the budget allocation to the shipping ministry has traditionally gone to inland waterways. IWAI itself received over Rs 41 crore in 2014-2015, but spent only a fifth of the money. Nor is it for lack of demand. In the recent past, a substantial demand for waterway transportation has emerged for commodities such as coal, fly-ash, food grains, cement, stone chips, edible oil and the like on NW-1. Shippers too are interested to use NW-1 if adequate infrastructure is provided for navigation, according to IWAI.

Anand Sharma, director, Mantrana Maritime Advisory , said inland waterways require large public investments similar to what have been made in the road and railways sectors in India, but the government has never come up with a realistic policy. "Their approach has been either lackluster or too ambitious to achieve." One of the worst execution of such projects is the inland waterway jetty at Patna, according to Sharma. "The government made a beautiful jetty smack in the middle of the city, but it is a nightmare to evacuate large volumes of cargo unloaded there. There is no backup land for storage of cargo in the open or in warehouses," he said. Jetties are of no use if they can't function like a port.

Sharma said he knew a cement company that was keen to ship cement on inland waterways. "It wanted to use the Patna jetty for distribution in the city and other parts of Bihar. But after seeing the condition of the jetty, it dropped the idea." Gadkari wants to change this awful state by launching multiple projects simultaneously. That's not all. His ministry has also drawn up plans to improve affiliated fields, particularly cruise tourism, which is plagued not just by government apathy but also by red tape and shocking rules (see Cruise Tourism). Example: the crew of foreign cruise vessels are lavish spenders, but they can hit Indian shores only between 8 am and 8 pm. Their visits too are restricted to city limits.

Last December, captain Jose Vilarinho of the US-based Azamara Club Cruises told reporters that he will take India off the route map if the immigration and customs norms are not eased. "If India wants cruise liners to call on its ports, the procedures have to change," he said. India has big rivers such as Ganga and Brahmaputra, but cruise tourism is still dormant. Indians aren't even allowed to board foreign vessels calling on Indian ports. That means they have to fly to Singapore or Malaysia to experience cruise tourism.

Ratna Chadha, chief executive, Tirun Travel Marketing, which represents three foreign cruise companies in India, said the sad state of cruise tourism in India is an age-old story. "River cruises in India suffer from a piecemeal approach by the government. Every city in Europe has a thriving river cruise industry. Why can't we do the same?"

Ships and Planes

Gadkari wants to do exactly that. He is looking to create the infrastructure for cruise facilities. As the first step, the shipping ministry has sought a status report from the traffic managers of the Chennai Port Trust. A report from the Port Trust concludes that no project has been held up due to financial shortage but the bane of sector has been red tape. The ministry is about to talk to its counterparts to help the industry. The ministry is also exploring seaplane connectivity from various ports. Junior shipping minister Pon Radhakrishnan told the Rajya Sabha on August 12, 2014 that the Mumbai port has launched a preliminary study to run seaplanes between Girgaon Chowpatty in south Mumbai and Juhu in the suburbs.

Siddharth Verma, co-founder and director of seaplane company MEHAIR, said the shipping ministry's interest in boosting seaplane operations makes perfect business sense because there are plenty of affluent passengers who want to save time and are longing for a convenient mode of transport. MEHAIR has launched services from the Jaigarh Port to Ganapatipule beach in Maharashtra. It is also in talks with the Gujarat Maritime Board to connect Pipavav Port with Mumbai. "Given the scale of operations, we can manage for now. But it will be great if the government can chip in as we expand," said Verma. Verma said inland waterways badly needs a centralised policy and the government must push for single window clearance for approvals. "At least minimise the number of approvals. It is frustrating and so many of our efforts are being stonewalled," he said.

No doubt, Gadkari has the right intent. But is he biting off more than he can chew? He could be exceeding his brief in at least the plan to revive the Yamuna, given that there is a ministry of water resources whose job is exactly that. As the existing National Waterways are in a shambles, a few experts believe that Gadkari should have developed those before launching new ones. Plenty of obstacles surface between approval and completion. Most of Gadkari's projects require dollops of capital, a tall ask for a fiscally conscious government, and land. Creating the infrastructure too is no picnic. Navigable waterways cannot work without open river navigation techniques, dredgers, modern river information systems, digital global positioning systems, night navigation units and modern methods of channel marking, besides terminals.

Unlike other countries, rivers in India suffer from high siltation. Even a navigable fairway with a channel width of up to 45 metres and depth of 2 metres is a major challenge due to heavy silt loads. Thousands of tonnes of waste dumped by cities on river banks add to the problem. Gadkari's own roads department has played spoilsport by building low bridges on rivers that impede passage of ships.

Man for the Job?

Gadkari's ambitions will also not bear fruit without the private sector's participation. The spectacular failure of the public private partnership (PPP) model has put a big question mark on this front too.

Feedback's Chatterjee said he favours a programmatic approach to building infrastructure. He said when former prime minister AB Vajpayee launched the Golden Quadrilateral (an expansive road network), there were similar arguments. "We should rise above such arguments." Gadkari's challenges are manageable, according to Chatterjee. "If there is return of capital, private companies will join." Sharma of Mantrana said private companies are already present in inland waterways that are financially feasible. Indeed, there is a huge scope for companies to make money because they can collect toll money, charge for freight, build real estate and launch tourism services.

Gadkari also has an impeccable record in executing large projects. As PWD minister of Maharashtra from 1995-99, he completed development projects worth Rs 6,000 crore. He succeeded using the PPP model. And if there has ever been a pro-business government, it is this government. Verma of MEHAIR said the new minister means business, is ready to hear suggestions of industry and meet business leaders. "It is these little things that keeps us in the business."
 
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Anikastha

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Re: Inland waterways: How Gadkari is steering one of Indias big Infra

Good move by Mr.gadkari, but they should bring 4-lane highways all over the country.And we have very poor infrastructure when compared to pakistan.
 

Kyubi

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Re: Inland waterways: How Gadkari is steering one of Indias big Infra

The ideas appear to be extremely good, if there was a PPP model to execute these projects then I am sure with regards to tourism along inland waterways we the ordinary folk have to pay excessive money, similarly like we pay toll charges for driving over our 6lane highways etc..
 

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Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari (Photo: Reuters)

Inland waterways can not only boost the movement of goods and passengers across the country, but will also help in saving about Rs 10,000 crore annually in transporting coal, Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Saturday.

The minister, who also holds the charge of Road Transport and Highways, added that he is hopeful of Parliament's nod on the bill to convert 111 rivers across India into National Waterways in the current Winter Session.



Inland waterways will help in saving logistics costs and boost movement of goods and passengers across the country. Besides, they will also save around Rs 10,000 crore per year while transporting coal, a crucial resource, Gadkari said at the annual session of industry chamber PHDCCI in New Delhi.

The waterways is a cheaper and environment friendly medium for transporting of goods, he said adding one HP moves 150 kg on road, 500 kg on rail and 4,000 kg on water besides one litre of fuel moves 24 tonne/km on road, 85 tonne/km on rail and 105 tonne/km on water.

"I am hopeful that Parliament will approve the bill to convert 111 rivers across India into National Waterways," he added.

The Minister pointed out that port sector in India has turned around under the present government and those managing ports have been directed to improve the performance.

"We expect the ports to register a profit of Rs 6,000 crore this fiscal, which the government will invest to create assets to spur growth," Gadkari said.

He said that infrastructure sector in India would witness massive changes and transformation in the next few years as the government is converting many four-lane roads and highways into eight lanes as well as a large number of national highways will be turned into express ways.

"Necessary permissions and approvals for undertaking such assignments have been completed," he added.

The Minister called upon the industry to participate in making dry ports, as the country's 14 states have the potential for such ports. To achieve this the willing land owners would have to give their land on which the proposed ports would be built to reduce the logistics and transportation costs especially for imports and exports, he added.

http://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/transporting-coal-via-waterways-can-save-rs-10000-crore-per-year-says-nitin-gadkari/story/226487.html
 

Hindustani78

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Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
3 -January, 2018 02:28IST

Cabinet approves Jal Marg Vikas Project for enhanced navigation on the Haldia-Varanasi stretch of National Waterway-1

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for implementation of the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for capacity augmentation of navigation on National Waterway-1 (NW-1) at a cost of Rs 5369.18 crore with the technical assistance and investment support of the World Bank. The Project is expected to be completed by March, 2023.

Major Impact:

  • Alternative mode of transport that will be environment friendly and cost effective. The project will contribute in bringing down the logistics cost in the country.
  • Mammoth Infrastructure development like multi-modal and inter-modal terminals, Roll on - Roll off (Ro-Ro) facilities, ferry services, navigation aids.
  • Socio-economic impetus; huge employment generation.
No. of beneficiaries:

  • NW-1 development & operations will lead to direct employment generation to the tune of 46,000 and indirect employment of 84,000 will be generated by vessel construction industry.
States/districts covered

  • States: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal
  • Major Districts: Varanasi, Ghazipur, Ballia, Buxar, Chhapra, Vaishali, Patna, Begusarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur, Sahibganj, Musrhidabad, Pakur, Hoogly, Kolkata.
Project details:

  • Funding pattern:
  • IBRD loan component: Rs. 2, 512 crore (US$ 375 million).
  • Government of India counterpart funds: Rs. 2,556 crore (US$ 380 million), to be sourced from budgetary allocation and proceeds from bond issue.
  • Private sector participation under PPP mode: Rs. 301 crore (US$45 million).
  • Major Components:
Fairway Development

Construction of the multi-modal terminal at Varanasi.

Construction of the multi-modal terminal at Sahibganj.

Construction of the multi-modal terminal at Haldia.

Construction of an inter-modal terminal at Kalughat .

Construction of an inter-modal terminal at Ghazipur.

Construction of a new navigation lock at Farakka.

Provision of navigational aids.

Construction of five pairs of Roll on-Roll off (Ro-Ro) terminals.

Construction of Integrated Ship Repair and Maintenance Complexes.

Provision of River Information System (RIS) and Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS)

Bank Protection works



Background:

  • One of the major problems for a commercially viable and safe navigation on NW-1 is low depth upstream of Farakka due to low discharges from tributaries and difficult hydro morphological characteristics of river Ganga.
  • A pilot study on the Allahabad-Ghazipur stretch was commissioned by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to find solutions to this problem.
  • Based on the findings of this study, a proposal for development of NW-1 at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,200 crore (US$ 700 million) was taken up for seeking technical assistance and investment support from the World Bank to the tune of US$ 350 million in three Phases.
  • Finance Minister announced JMVP in Budget Speech in July 2014, to enable commercial navigation of at least 1500 tonnes vessels in Ganga.
BACKGROUNDER NOTE



Implementation strategy/ and targets:

  • Fairway development through performance based contract for least assured depth of 2.2 metres to 3 metres and bottom channel width of 45 metres, bank protection works, and provisions of navigation aids.
Funding Pattern:

  • IBRD loan component: Rs. 2, 512 crore (US$ 375 million).
  • Government of India counterpart funds: Rs. 2, 556 crore (US$ 380 million), to be sourced from budgetary allocation and proceeds from bond issue.
  • Private sector participation under PPP mode: Rs. 301 crore (US$45 million).


Major interventions and their completion timeline:

S.No
Major milestones
Time Frame for completion/ Target date


1.
Fairway Development
March, 2023

2.
Construction of Phase-I of multi-modal terminal at Varanasi.
November, 2018

3.
Construction of Phase-I of the multi-modal terminal at Sahibganj.
March, 2019

4.
Construction of multi-modal terminal at Haldia.
March, 2019

5.
Construction of inter-modal terminal at Kalughat.
March, 2020

6.
Construction of inter-modal terminal at Ghazipur.
March, 2020

7.
Construction of intermodal terminal at Tribeni/Kalyani
March, 2020

8.
Construction of new navigational lock at Farakka.
March, 2019.

9.
Integrated Vessel Repair & Maintenance Complexes
March, 2020

10.
Construction of Ro-Ro jetties
March, 2020

11.
Vessel Procurement
March, 2019

12.
Land Acquisition and R&R/RAP
March,2019

13.
Provision of River Information System (RIS) and Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS).
March, 2020

14.
Bank protection works.
December, 2019

Details and progress of scheme already running:

  1. Construction of multi-modal terminal at Varanasi:
Contract for construction of Phase-I (A) of the terminal at an estimated cost of Rs.169.59 crore awarded in May, 2016. Physical progress of work: 25%.



  1. Construction of multi-modal terminal at Haldia:
Contract awarded for constructing a Rs 517.36 crore state-of-the-art multi-modal terminal at Haldia, West Bengal. Work initiated.



  1. Construction of multi-modal terminal at Sahibganj:
Contract for construction of phase-I (A) of the terminal at an estimated cost of Rs. 280.90 crore awarded in October, 2016. Physical progress of work: 25.62%



  1. Construction of a new navigation lock at Farakka Barrage:
Contract for construction of a new navigation lock at an estimated cost of Rs 359.19 crore awarded in November, 2016. Physical progress: 22.30%



  1. Least Assured Depth (LAD):
Tender process for fairway development through Performance Based Maintenance Dredging Contract for Provision of Least Assured Depth and quantity based dredging to provide a depth of 2.2 m to 3 metres between Farakka and Varanasi is being completed for awarding.



  1. Development of Kolkata and Patna terminals under PPP mode:
In order to scale up private investment in the IWT sector, IWAI has identified Kolkata terminal (GR Jetty-1, GR Jetty-II and BISN) and Patna terminal (Gaighat and Kalughat) for their development and operation under the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode.


  1. Construction of Ro-Ro terminals: Locations: Rajmahal and Manikchak;Samdaghat and Manihari;Kahalgaon and Tintanga;Hasnapur and Bakhtiyarpur; and Buxar and Saraikota.


  1. Ferry terminals in six cities :
Contract awarded to a joint venture of Thompson Design Group (TDG), Boston (USA) and Infrastructure Architecture Lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (USA) in December 2016 for identifying suitable locations for construction of ferry terminals in six cities - Varanasi, Patna, Bhagalpur, Munger, Kolkata and Haldia on NW-1.



  1. Design of inland vessels:
IWAI in August, 2016 signed a contract with M/s DST, Germany to design vessels, especially suited to navigate on NW-1. Consultancy completed with submission of stipulated 13 designs. Designs accepted by the Vetting Committee. Vessel testing is going on.



  1. River Information Services (RIS) on National Waterway -1:
IWAI has taken up a technologically challenging project of setting up of River Information Service System on NW-1 for the first time in India. River Information System (RIS) are equipment, hardware and software information technology (IT) related services designed to optimize traffic and transport processes in inland navigation.
 

Chandragupt Maurya

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Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
3 -January, 2018 02:28IST

Cabinet approves Jal Marg Vikas Project for enhanced navigation on the Haldia-Varanasi stretch of National Waterway-1

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for implementation of the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP) for capacity augmentation of navigation on National Waterway-1 (NW-1) at a cost of Rs 5369.18 crore with the technical assistance and investment support of the World Bank. The Project is expected to be completed by March, 2023.

Major Impact:

  • Alternative mode of transport that will be environment friendly and cost effective. The project will contribute in bringing down the logistics cost in the country.
  • Mammoth Infrastructure development like multi-modal and inter-modal terminals, Roll on - Roll off (Ro-Ro) facilities, ferry services, navigation aids.
  • Socio-economic impetus; huge employment generation.
No. of beneficiaries:

  • NW-1 development & operations will lead to direct employment generation to the tune of 46,000 and indirect employment of 84,000 will be generated by vessel construction industry.
States/districts covered

  • States: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal
  • Major Districts: Varanasi, Ghazipur, Ballia, Buxar, Chhapra, Vaishali, Patna, Begusarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur, Sahibganj, Musrhidabad, Pakur, Hoogly, Kolkata.
Project details:

  • Funding pattern:
  • IBRD loan component: Rs. 2, 512 crore (US$ 375 million).
  • Government of India counterpart funds: Rs. 2,556 crore (US$ 380 million), to be sourced from budgetary allocation and proceeds from bond issue.
  • Private sector participation under PPP mode: Rs. 301 crore (US$45 million).
  • Major Components:
Fairway Development

Construction of the multi-modal terminal at Varanasi.

Construction of the multi-modal terminal at Sahibganj.

Construction of the multi-modal terminal at Haldia.

Construction of an inter-modal terminal at Kalughat .

Construction of an inter-modal terminal at Ghazipur.

Construction of a new navigation lock at Farakka.

Provision of navigational aids.

Construction of five pairs of Roll on-Roll off (Ro-Ro) terminals.

Construction of Integrated Ship Repair and Maintenance Complexes.

Provision of River Information System (RIS) and Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS)

Bank Protection works



Background:

  • One of the major problems for a commercially viable and safe navigation on NW-1 is low depth upstream of Farakka due to low discharges from tributaries and difficult hydro morphological characteristics of river Ganga.
  • A pilot study on the Allahabad-Ghazipur stretch was commissioned by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to find solutions to this problem.
  • Based on the findings of this study, a proposal for development of NW-1 at an estimated cost of Rs. 4,200 crore (US$ 700 million) was taken up for seeking technical assistance and investment support from the World Bank to the tune of US$ 350 million in three Phases.
  • Finance Minister announced JMVP in Budget Speech in July 2014, to enable commercial navigation of at least 1500 tonnes vessels in Ganga.
BACKGROUNDER NOTE



Implementation strategy/ and targets:


  • Fairway development through performance based contract for least assured depth of 2.2 metres to 3 metres and bottom channel width of 45 metres, bank protection works, and provisions of navigation aids.
Funding Pattern:

  • IBRD loan component: Rs. 2, 512 crore (US$ 375 million).
  • Government of India counterpart funds: Rs. 2, 556 crore (US$ 380 million), to be sourced from budgetary allocation and proceeds from bond issue.
  • Private sector participation under PPP mode: Rs. 301 crore (US$45 million).


Major interventions and their completion timeline:

S.No
Major milestones
Time Frame for completion/ Target date


1.
Fairway Development
March, 2023

2.
Construction of Phase-I of multi-modal terminal at Varanasi.
November, 2018

3.
Construction of Phase-I of the multi-modal terminal at Sahibganj.
March, 2019

4.
Construction of multi-modal terminal at Haldia.
March, 2019

5.
Construction of inter-modal terminal at Kalughat.
March, 2020

6.
Construction of inter-modal terminal at Ghazipur.
March, 2020

7.
Construction of intermodal terminal at Tribeni/Kalyani
March, 2020

8.
Construction of new navigational lock at Farakka.
March, 2019.

9.
Integrated Vessel Repair & Maintenance Complexes
March, 2020

10.
Construction of Ro-Ro jetties
March, 2020

11.
Vessel Procurement
March, 2019

12.
Land Acquisition and R&R/RAP
March,2019

13.
Provision of River Information System (RIS) and Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS).
March, 2020

14.
Bank protection works.
December, 2019

Details and progress of scheme already running:

  1. Construction of multi-modal terminal at Varanasi:
Contract for construction of Phase-I (A) of the terminal at an estimated cost of Rs.169.59 crore awarded in May, 2016. Physical progress of work: 25%.



  1. Construction of multi-modal terminal at Haldia:
Contract awarded for constructing a Rs 517.36 crore state-of-the-art multi-modal terminal at Haldia, West Bengal. Work initiated.



  1. Construction of multi-modal terminal at Sahibganj:
Contract for construction of phase-I (A) of the terminal at an estimated cost of Rs. 280.90 crore awarded in October, 2016. Physical progress of work: 25.62%



  1. Construction of a new navigation lock at Farakka Barrage:
Contract for construction of a new navigation lock at an estimated cost of Rs 359.19 crore awarded in November, 2016. Physical progress: 22.30%



  1. Least Assured Depth (LAD):
Tender process for fairway development through Performance Based Maintenance Dredging Contract for Provision of Least Assured Depth and quantity based dredging to provide a depth of 2.2 m to 3 metres between Farakka and Varanasi is being completed for awarding.



  1. Development of Kolkata and Patna terminals under PPP mode:
In order to scale up private investment in the IWT sector, IWAI has identified Kolkata terminal (GR Jetty-1, GR Jetty-II and BISN) and Patna terminal (Gaighat and Kalughat) for their development and operation under the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode.


  1. Construction of Ro-Ro terminals: Locations: Rajmahal and Manikchak;Samdaghat and Manihari;Kahalgaon and Tintanga;Hasnapur and Bakhtiyarpur; and Buxar and Saraikota.


  1. Ferry terminals in six cities :
Contract awarded to a joint venture of Thompson Design Group (TDG), Boston (USA) and Infrastructure Architecture Lab of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (USA) in December 2016 for identifying suitable locations for construction of ferry terminals in six cities - Varanasi, Patna, Bhagalpur, Munger, Kolkata and Haldia on NW-1.



  1. Design of inland vessels:
IWAI in August, 2016 signed a contract with M/s DST, Germany to design vessels, especially suited to navigate on NW-1. Consultancy completed with submission of stipulated 13 designs. Designs accepted by the Vetting Committee. Vessel testing is going on.



  1. River Information Services (RIS) on National Waterway -1:
IWAI has taken up a technologically challenging project of setting up of River Information Service System on NW-1 for the first time in India. River Information System (RIS) are equipment, hardware and software information technology (IT) related services designed to optimize traffic and transport processes in inland navigation.
Thanks for sharing this 🙏
I think this project will transform many cities situated on the banks of river Ganga and new smart cities will also appear Alongwith freight villages lots of jobs will be created
 

Chandragupt Maurya

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Chandragupt Maurya

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Varanasi to Myanmar possible but don't know about Bangkok. Round the clock Varanasi to Haldia would be a phenomenal achievement if it can be obtained.
Varanasi to Haldia is partially operational cargo ships are already moving after dredging is complete big ships will move
River Ganga is Huge in Bihar , Jharkhand and Bengal it can easily accommodate big ships government has planned to develop NW1 as an economic corridor
 

Lonewolf

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Varanasi to Haldia is partially operational cargo ships are already moving after dredging is complete big ships will move
River Ganga is Huge in Bihar , Jharkhand and Bengal it can easily accommodate big ships government has planned to develop NW1 as an economic corridor
What about the electric cargo ship being manufactured for norway , we can use it too for our inland waterway's
 

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