NTPC ties up with Inland Waterways Authority of India to ensure smooth transportation of coal to its power plants
What until now was considered a domain of the river cruise and tourists’ operators and to some extent that of logistics solution providers, the inland water transport (IWT) is set to get a major boost with the government of India apparently having finally got its act together. The country’s state owned, largest power producer, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has tied up with Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) to ensure smooth transportation of coal by finalizing plans to import coal directly through the inland waterways.
The company last week signed a pact with IWAI and Jindal ITF for transportation of imported coal from ports to the power major's 2,100-MW Farakka station in West Bengal, using the inland waterways. The move is expected to help NTPC improve margins in the long run as inland waterways are among the most cost efficient modes for transporting bulk cargo. “Considering the current constraints of the Indian port sector, this project is bound to bring paradigm shift in import of dry bulk cargo,” a statement from NTPC said.
The potential for inland water transport (IWT) has been unquestioned over the years and it forms a significant fraction of ton-km of movement in countries across the world. In Germany IWT constitute over 20% Bangladesh it is 32%. But India, despite its several benefits has remained stagnant at a very marginal 0.15%.
The reason for this new strategy as stated by NTPC is the recurrent congestions on the railways network delaying coal supply to NTPC power plants. The company has often faced problems with acute shortage of coal stocks due to the delays. NTPC now plans to use waterways as an alternative route for coal supply to projects that are along the national waterways No1. Till now, the railways have been the dominant mode for transport of coal. “We have now tied up with IWAI to bring coal for the Farraka and Khelgaon projects because of congestion on the railways network especially at these places. This move will also be an eco friendly way of transporting coal and will reduce the pressure on the railways,” informed NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roychoudhury.
Coal meets 80 per cent of the company’s fuel requirement. IWAI, on behalf of NTPC, had floated Requests for Proposal (RFP) for NTPC plans to transport three million tonnes of imported coal annually to NTPC’s power plant at Farakka, West Bengal, for a period of seven years. According to the agreement Jindal ITF will to have to develop logistics and the requisite infrastructure.
This move by NTPC to use the IWT is likely to have a snowballing effect with other public sector companies and private players alike who are expected to jump into the bandwagon.
To promote inland water transport the government has invested tremendously for undertaking dredging and declared five inland waterways in India. The total navigable length of inland water-ways in India extends to 15,783 km of which maximum stretch lies in the state of Uttar Pradesh followed by West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala and Bihar successively. Amongst the river system, the Ganga has the largest navigable length followed by the Godavari, the Brahmaputra and the rivers of West Bengal.
The five National Waterways (NW) are:
NW-1: Allahabad-Haldia stretch of the Ganga – Bhagirathi-Hooghly river (1620 km) and declared as National Waterway in 1986. NW-2: Sadiya – Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra river (891 km). This was declared as NW in 1988. NW-3: Kollam-Kottapuram stretch of West Coast Canal and Champakara and Udyogmandal canals (205 km). Declared as NW in 1993. NW-4: Kakinada-Pudducherry stretch of canals and Kaluvelly tank, Bhadrachalam – Rajahmundry stretch of river Godavari and Wazirabad - Vijayawada stretch of river Krishna (1095 km). This received its approval as NW in 2008. NW- 5: Talcher-Dhamra stretch of rivers, Geonkhali-Charbatia stretch of 3 East Coast Canal, Charbatia - Dhamra stretch of Matai river and Mahanadi delta rivers (620 km). It received its National Waterway status in 2008.