Proposed Haldia multimodal IWT terminal gets impressive cargo commitment

[VK Sharma]

Proposed Haldia multimodal IWT terminal gets impressive cargo commitment

 

Even before the construction of the multimodal terminal at Haldia in West Bengal kicks off, it has received a commitment of 5.92 million tonnes (mt) per annum of cargo volume by the year 2018 from industry, indicating the huge cargo potential of the proposed terminal. Fly ash is expected to be the major cargo, with a commitment of 3.8 mt, followed by vegetable oil (0.63 mt) and cement (0.36 mt), among others.

 

In a series of consultations with Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) held at Haldia last month, various industries, firms, shipping lines, cargo operators, shippers and manufacturers committed transportation of cargo like fly ash, edible oil, vegetable oil, gypsum, etc. by 2018, the year the Haldia terminal would be ready for operation.

 

At a workshop organised last year on the opportunities and prospects for inland waterways cargo at the IWT terminal in Haldia, shippers, freight forwarders, vessel operators, etc. had indicated that the immediate demand for transportation was about 1.8 mt per annum for fly ash and 1.7 mt per annum for edible oil if the Haldia Multimodal Terminal was constructed.

 

In June 2016, HPC and Uniconsult, Germany (consultants engaged for IWT sector development strategy and business development study for the Jal Marg Vikas project) forecast a cargo potential of 7.95 mt by 2020.

 

The Haldia terminal is one of the three multimodal terminals being constructed under the World Bank-assisted Jal Marg Vikas Project, being implemented by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Ministry of Shipping and the government of India for the capacity augmentation of National Waterway-1, i.e. on River Ganga from Haldia-Varanasi, for navigation.

 

The government is developing National Waterway-1 (NW-1) under the Jal Marg Vikas Project, with assistance from the World Bank, at an estimated cost of Rs 4,200 crore. The project is expected to enable commercial navigation of 1,500-2,000 DWT vessels.

 

The tender for Phase-I of the terminal was put out on March 3, 2016. Six firms submitted their technical and financial proposals, and the evaluation is in progress, said a release.