Marking India’s first containerized movement on inland waterways, PepsiCo India became the first company to use containerized vessel movement for transporting products from its plant in Kolkata to the port in Varanasi.
The first containerized vessel was received by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi at the newly developed multi-modal terminal in Varanasi. Also, present on the momentous occasion was PepsiCo India’s President and CEO, Mr. Ahmed El-Sheikh.
Speaking about this historic moment in the development of inland waterways, Mr. Ahmed ElSheikh, President & CEO, PepsiCo India said, “We welcome the government’s efforts to enable the inland waterway system as an efficient means of transport between states, that is also environmentally friendly. PepsiCo is delighted to be the first company to use containerized vessel movement for transporting products from our plant in Kolkata to the port in Varanasi. This is a significant milestone in the development of the inland waterways and we believe this can be a huge enabler for the consumer goods industry.”
PepsiCo India shipped 16 containers, equivalent to 16 truckloads, containing the company’s popular snacks products as part of the pilot project on National Waterway -1. The products are manufactured at PepsiCo India’s snacks plant in Kolkata, and will be further distribute to various markets from Varanasi.
The Prime Minister also inaugurated the newly-developed waterway terminal at Varanasi built as part of the Sagar Mala project. The maiden container vessel, MV RN Tagore, was flagged off from Kolkata on October 30 in the presence of Shri Gopal Krishna, Secretary (Shipping) of Government of India, along with Shri Pravir Pandey, Chairman of IWAI, and PepsiCo India representatives.