In a first, auto-major Maruti Suzuki is planning to ship cars manufactured in Gurgaon and Manesar, near Delhi, to Kolkata via inland waterways, on a pilot basis, in October. Maruti currently sends cars by road to Kolkata.
According to sources, the initiative is aimed at exploring the commercial feasibility of multi-modal transport opportunities thrown open by the World Bank aided 1,680 km long National Waterway-I development project from Allahabad to the river mouth at Sagar.
Taking a leaf from the successful implementation of coal transportation project, covering 545 km, from the Bay of Bengal to Farakka thermal power plant of NTPC; the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is now creating infrastructure for the seamless movement of cargo along the entire NW-I.
“Maruti has approached us to discuss the possibilities,” Pravir Pandey Member Finance of IWAI told newspersons in Kolkata last month.
Sources now tell BusinessLine that an early trial run is under discussion.
Maruti did not respond to queries.
A long way But sources say, the company would bring cars by road to Varanasi, about 800 km from Delhi. From Varanasi the cargo will travel 1,300 km by river to Kolkata.
IWAI will deploy two of its self-propelled barges, each of which can carry over 30 small cars, for the trial run.
The cars will be unloaded at IWAI jetty inside Netaji Subhash dock of Kolkata port.
A successful pilot will not result in commercial operations overnight.
First, IWAI barges are not designed to carry automobiles. For commercial viability, the operator has to use customised vessels with higher carrying capacity.
Also, importantly, the pilot will be run on temporary roll-in/roll-out (Ro-Ro) facilities. Commercial operations will wait till the nodal agency completes construction of multi-modal terminals, with permanent Ro-Ro jetty, over the next two years.
Immense possibilities S P Singh, coordinator of the Delhi-based Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), told BusinessLine that multimodal transport holds immense possibilities, provided IWAI can ensure its viability.
“Business will take advantage of the river transport facilities provided it is more cost and time efficient than road transport,” he said.
According to him, Maruti currently spends an estimated Rs 70,000-75,000 on every road container, with a capacity to carry seven Alto cars each, to cater the Kolkata market.
The road transport from Gurgaon to Varanasi, he estimates, will cost Rs 50,000-55,000 per container.
The commercial viability of the river transport project therefore rests on the barge capacity and the time it takes to reach Kolkata.