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’s pilot project is indicative of corporate India’s interest in the development of India’s inland waterways, which has gained impetus since the country’s biggest power producer i.e. the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) successfully implemented the coal transportation project. Through inland waterways, the organisation transports coal across a distance of around 545 kms from the Sagar Islands in West Bengal to the Farakka thermal power plant. The benefits of the experiment have made the NTPC consider a similar plan for two other plants.