IWT Gallery

Opportunity Beckons Inland Water Transport in India

A Special Session on Inland Waterways

19th January, 2012 | 02.30 pm - 05.30 pm | Sheesh Mahal

Railways, roadways, inland waterways, pipelines and coastal shipping are important modes of transportation of bulk goods in India. However, rail and road have become overburdened and saturated while the task for their large-scale capacity enhancement has become difficult. In the wake of growing demand for the transportation of bulk goods, hazardous products and overdimensional cargo, inland water transport emerges as a fuel-efficient, environment-friendly and cost-effective mode of transport. The Maritime Agenda envisages IWT as commercially viable waterways by the turn of the decade providing port-hinterland connectivity as India is endowed with rivers, canals and creeks. To tap its potential as a supplementary mode of transport with respect to rail and road modes, IWT mode needs to be developed to a level at which it becomes competitive in a multimodal transport network.

The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) works for the development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation. The Authority undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWT infrastructure on national waterways through grant received from the Ministry of Shipping. The Authority, with head office at Noida, has its regional offices at Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi and sub-offices at Allahabad, Varanasi, Bhaglapur, Farakka and Kollam.

Given the distinct advantages of IWT, India Maritime Week will have a special session to highlight the importance of this commercially viable mode of transport and the need to develop and harness it. The special session, driven by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), will be conducted during India Maritime Week in New Delhi from January 17-21, 2012. The session will focus on the opportunities that exist in inland waterways in India, share the experiences of users, bring attention to the efforts of IWAI in facilitating transport through waterways, highlight the collaborative efforts of various stakeholders, investment opportunities in IWT and the future projects and plans of IWAI.

Session structure: The session will have two parts presentation and panel discussion.

The first part of the session will be a presentation mode and will have the following relevant topics with speakers drawn from IWT community to discuss the ongoing projects, the challenges therein and the success stories:

IWT Infrastructure in India
Multimodal (Sea/River/Inland) transportation opportunities in India
Transportation of coal through waterways
Coal transportation project through NW-1
Movement of project cargo through waterways: A case study of Palatana Project
Opportunities in ODC movement through waterways
Opportunities for private sector investment in IWT
Unlocking the value of river and sea for project logistics in India
Movement of FCI foodgrains : IWT mode
Movement of iron ore through barges: Lessons learnt
River cruise on the Ganges: A success story
Indo-Dutch cooperation for development of IWT in Indi
Connectivity to North-East through waterways

The second part of the session a panel discussion will have the IWAI chairperson and senior representatives of other waterways and ports discussing the IWAI plan for the development of infrastructure, the investment opportunities in public and private funding and the role of stakeholders in making IWT a commercially viable mode of transportation of goods.

Speakers

Ms Bhupinder Prasad Chairperson Inland Waterways Authority of India	Mr M L Meena Chairman Kolkata Port Trust	Mr Indresh Batra Managing Director & Vice Chariman, Jindal Waterways Ltd	Shri Paritosh Gupta CEO, IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited	Ms R Sushila Nair Executive Director, Vivada Inland Waterways Limited
Mr Sunil Kumar Vice-Chairman Inland Waterways Authority of India	Mr Philip Mathews Managing Director, LOTS Shipping Limited	Mr Rakesh Sisodia GM operations Essar Offshore Subsea Ltd	Mr Niek van der Sluijs Director Advisory Group (Maritime & Waterways), Royal Haskoning	Mr S N Goel Executive Director, Fuel Security, NTPC Ltd
Mr Subhash Zadoo Executive Director, FCI, Kolkata	Mr Jai Singh Khurana Sr General Manager, Jindal Waterways Ltd	Mr RP Khare Director, Inland Waterways Authority of India	Mr YK Singhee Director, Eastern Navigation	Mr Atul Jadhav President, Goa Barge Owners Association
Mr Vimal Kumar Regional Manager - Projects - West India, Schenker India Pvt Ltd	Dr KGS Sarma Additional General Manager - Ports and Water Resources, RITES Limited	Mr Dileep Kumar Asst Vice President, IL&FS Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited	Mr RK Madan Sr Advisor to Managing Director, ONGC Limited