The Hindu Business Line : NTPC eyes inland waterway to transport imported coal

New Delhi, Oct. 4 State-owned NTPC Ltd is looking to exploit the use of inland waterways to transport imported coal from sea ports to its power stations in an effort to clamp down on transportation costs.

NTPC has tied up with Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for exploring the feasibility of transporting imported coal through inland waterways from the unloading seaport to both its Farakka and Kahalgaon stations.

Inland water transport (IWT) is widely acknowledged as among the cheapest form of transport for goods and is used extensively in countries such as China, Germany and the US by utilities for transporting bulk cargo.

At Haldia port, for instance, the river system (National Waterway 1 on the river Ganga) is connected to the port operation and ocean going vessels can directly unload to barges, which can then transport coal to the power stations.

The company estimates that cost savings are likely to be significant if imported coal from countries such as Indonesia or Australia is transported directly from Haldia port facility to its 1,600 MW Farakka station in Murshidabad district of West Bengal through the inland waterway route, instead of rail or road use.

IWAI already has fixed terminals at Farakka and a floating terminal at Haldia, with new fixed terminals planned at Haldia and Patna. NTPC’s 1,340 MW Kahalgaon station in Bhagalpur district, Bihar also is along the waterway.

COST TRIMMING

According to a National Council for Applied Economic Research study in 2007, the per-tonne-km cost of transportation by inland waterways was estimated at Re 0.55, compared to Re 1 by road.

India is estimated to have nearly 14,500 km of navigable inland waterways, even though the exploitation of IWT sector has remained neglected, with most waterways requiring constant dredging on account of heavy silting and draft available only seasonally.

Besides, not many entrepreneurs are willing to invest in inland vessels, which have resulted in under utilisation of whatever infrastructure is created, thereby putting brakes on the development of sector.

“Inland waterways are an option that we are prepared to look at, with an eye on cutting down on transportation costs for stations along navigable waterways and using imported coal. We could look at the option of investing in specific routes,” an NTPC official said.

GLOBAL EXAMPLES

IWT experience across the world offers numerous success stories. In Bangladesh, about 35 per cent of the freight movement is by inland waterways while in Thailand, IWT is next to road in share of freight carried (about 20 million tonnes), according to ADB estimates.

In Europe IWT is estimated to carry about seven per cent (and growing) freight traffic in member-states of the European Union.

In China, navigable inland waterways total more than 100,000 km and there are a large number of inland port facilities with berths for large vessels.

IWT accounts for almost 10 per cent of the freight tonnage, two-thirds of it being carried on the Yangtze river (including coal, steel, cement, containers, and LPG) and thermal utilities use IWT extensively to ferry coal to stations.

More Stories on : Outlook | Shipping/Ports | NTPC Ltd

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