The increasing visibility of coastal and inland waterways for transportation is attracting the host of power and infra projects that are planned across the country Are coastal shipping and inland waterways set to occupy centre stage as the preferred transportation modes for cargo in the country? If one go by the various initiatives on the ground or planned, there seem to be some changes happening towards that end.
While a host of power and infrastructure projects that are planned across the country are drawing attention of the attractiveness of coastal and inland water transportation for ferrying project cargo and finished products, state governments like Gujarat and Maharashtra are seen reopening files pertaining to the coastal sector.
For example, Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), the torchbearer of shipping and port reforms in the country, is mulling projects based out of the southern coast of the state. Though nothing seems to be happening on the cargo front, for passenger transportation, it has initiated a study for passenger ferry service.
According to sources at GMB, it is also planning to purchase a hovercraft which is expected to be delivered in about 8 to 10 months from now. "While coastal shipping will ferry passengers and vehicles, the hovercraft will be used to ferry tourists. The route under consideration is from Gogha near Bhavnagar to Dahej, which will save the travel time considerably," he informed.
The authority is also planning to loop into the tourism potential of some of the state's heritage and cultural landmarks while it is linking the water mode.
After repeated attempts to bring the advantages of water transportation to the island city's population, Maharashtra government is understood to have restarted its activities to kick start its water transportation projects, both for passenger and cargo, including car.
Of its two agencies, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which have been entrusted with developing transport services on the eastern and western waterfronts, respectively, the former is unbundling plans to start ferry and ro-ro services to transport men and machines. While it is thinking of operationalising passenger services between Vashi to Ferry Warf in south Mumbai, it also plans to transport cars between Ferry Warf and Mandwa. The agency has roped in Commodore Manohar K Banger (Retd), till recently an advisor to Maharashtra Maritime Board, to help it concretise the project as its advisor.
MSRDC, the other agency, is busy with the bidding process to find a partner to execute the waterfront activities on the western side of the island city.
According to a leading member of Goa Barge Owners' Association, modes such as costal and river transportation have gained considerable visibility, thanks to the large number of power and infrastructure projects getting executed. He said Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) officials visited Goa recently to understand the stupendous progress that the small state has made using water transportation.
Power companies like Jindal have approached the association for possible collaboration for cargo transportation, he informed.
Presently, India imports about 28.5 million tonnes of thermal coal for its power plants. A major proportion of the coal movements within the country are by rail. Even though the existing capacity utilization is as high as 120%, the railways are unable to carry more coal to the plants, and many of its routes are severely congested.
At present more than ten power plants are located on the banks or in the vicinity of the Ganges and the possibility of moving cargo through water is immense. Several power plants, including in the private and joint sector, are coming up in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and prospects of movement of coal through this mode also exist.
Beginning 2010, movement of ODC and project cargo, like cement and steel, for such projects are expected to commence and much of the movement is expected to take place through inland water transport.
Although India has an inland waterways network with a navigable length of 15,544 kilometers, only 37% of this (5,700 kilometers) is currently being used for freight transport. According to industry experts that ETSL refereed said that at present the use of IWT in India for moving cargo is less than 1%. "Both in absolute terms and in terms of its share compared to other modes in India, the share of IWT is a miniscule 0.15%," opined an expert. This indicates that the potential of the sector has not been exploited adequately in India.
Policy support has been cited as the key factor inhibiting the growth of investments in this sector. Moreover, there are a number of tax related issues such as service tax, tonnage tax, that have an impact on the cost effectiveness of the water mode. While time is ripe and good to exploit the emerging potential, much will depend on government policy. Undoubtedly, there is the need to encourage public-private participation in IWT to attract logistics and other companies who are regular users of IWT to make it economically viable.
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While the time is ripe and good to exploit the emerging potential, much will depend on government policy. Undoubtedly, there is the need to encourage public-private participation in IWT to attract logistics and other companies |
