Sahibgunj to get new bulk cargo terminal

The nation’s fuel evacuation system is set to witness a small yet significant change over the next two years.

Following the successful implementation of a project to move imported coal, transhipped at high sea, 545 km upstream to the NTPC power plant at Farakka in West Bengal, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is now gearing up to tap domestic coal traffic.

Plans are afoot to build a bulk cargo terminal on the Ganga at Sahibgunj in Jharkhand, close to Coal India Ltd’s (CIL) Rajmahal coalfield, also in Jharkhand.

This is part of a ₹4,200-crore World Bank project to promote navigation through the 1,620-km National Waterway - 1 (NW 1)from Allahabad to Kolkata.

“We are building the Sahibgunj terminal primarily for coal,” an IWAI official told BusinessLine .

 Globally, inland waterways are among the most popular modes of transporting fuel and other bulk cargo, due to their cost effectiveness against rail, road and even coastal shipping. In line with its three-fold rise in coal production between 2000 and 2010, China, for instance, went all out to promote its waterways.

Back home, the scene is different. Nearly 55 per cent of the coal mined in India is evacuated by the Railways, 20 per cent by a Merry-Go-Round (MGR) rail system and the rest by road, arguably the costliest mode of transport. The share of coastal shipping is negligible.

(The MGR system is a closed-circuit dedicated rail transportation system between the production and consumption points.)

The Andhra Pradesh government did attempt to move coal produced at Singareni Collieries by river, and issued notifications for this in 2004. But the project is yet to see the light of day.

 CIL sources said the IWAI’s move will enhance the Rajmahal project’s expansion opportunities.

As part of its agenda to reach output of 1 billion tonnes in five years, CIL is looking to expand the mine’s capacity significantly.

The 17 million-tonne mine at present fuels NTPC’s power plants at Farakka (2,100 MW), near Murshidabad in West Bengal, and Kahalgaon (2,340 MW) at Bhagalpur in Bihar. This apart, it caters to the Sagardighi (600 MW) and Kolaghat (1,260 MW) capacities of the West Bengal State generation utility.

Other than Kolaghat, all these plants are on NW 1, and can be fed from the proposed Sahibgunj terminal.

For NTPC, river transport presents a second option to ferry coal over and above the MGR. Sagardighi, currently fed through a combination of road and rail logistics, can immediately cut generation costs by resorting to this mode.

The future holds more possibilities. The expanded Rajmahal mine can cater to upcoming NTPC projects such as Barh near Patna and Lakhisarai near Munger on NW 1.

The opportunities will widen once Parliament approves a Bill to include 101 more river systems under the ambit of the National Waterways. This will bring the Kolaghat and Bakreshwar (1,050 MW) power stations of the West Bengal utility under the coverage area of the IWAI.

The CIL sources said the movement of domestic coal from Rajmahal will serve two purposes — it will decongest railways and create return traffic for barges to be engaged in carrying imported coal.

After the success of the Farakka transhipment project, NTPC is now keen to carry imported coal another 400-450 km upstream to Barh, near Patna.

The viability of this project will improve once the barges get return cargo from Rajmahal. 

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