The Hindu Business Line : Concor to run regular services between Kolkata, Narayangunj

THE Container Corporation of India's (Concor) eastern region office here will soon launch regular container services by barge between Kolkata (port) and Narayangunj (inland port near Dhaka) in Bangladesh.

"Emboldened by the successful trial run on the route in end-August/early September, we have taken the decision to run regular services from November," Mr B.K. Joshi, Chief General Manager, Concor, Eastern Region, told Business Line.

"We've nearly completed the process of our compliance with necessary formalities," he added. The route to be followed will be: Kolkata - Namkhana (Indian customs point) - Raimangal (last Indian point on the border) - Shekbaria (Bangladesh customs point) - Chalna - Kaukhali (single channel with signal system) - Barisal - Chandpur - Narayangunj and return. The distance between Kolkata and Narayangunj is to be covered in eight days.

"The freight rates, still to be finalised, will be competitive covering the cost of unloading consignments from railway wagons/trucks at the terminal at Kolkata, customs clearance, river freight and the cost of unloading from the barges into the jetty at Narayangunj," said Mr Joshi adding, "the rates will be much cheaper than that in road movement or the sea freight via Singapore and Chittagong ports." Kolkata Port Trust, as a promotional measure, has decided to charge special rates for the traffic to be moved by the river route between the two countries.

To run the service, Concor has tied up with Leo Gulf, a joint venture between India's Leonard Express and Bangladesh's Gulf Orient Seaways. The joint venture company will place barges of varying capacity, from a low of 10 TEUs to 60 TEUs.

At the Narayangunj jetty, the boxes will be unloaded with the help of a floating crane and there will be enough space for storage adjacent to the jetty. "Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority has as many as eight warehouses whose capacity is not fully utilised," he said, pointing out that depending on the local demand, it should also be possible to deliver the containers at the importer's doorstep on payment.

The cargo inducement for the proposed barge service, it is estimated, will be adequate. The optimism is based on the fact that already large volumes of exports to Bangladesh are moved by road and a portion of this traffic should be diverted for barge movement.

This is because the road movement is facing several problems, the most important being the delay. On an average, a truck is detained at the Petrapole-Benapole border for not less than a week.

The items identified for barge movement include sponge iron, pig iron, chemicals, cement and various other things.

For example, Arvind Mills sends about 60 to 70 container loads of denim every month to Bangladesh. Similarly, Nestle's sends large quantities of its products. Foodgrains and cotton are to be included in the list shortly.

Initially, there will be hardly any item to move in the reverse direction, i.e. from Narayangunj to Kolkata but Mr Joshi is hopeful that shipments of jute goods and garments on the route should be possible in due course.

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