World Bank to lend $375 mn for India's first National Waterways
The Dollar Business Bureau Inida's first waterways project received a financial backing of $375 million from international lender World Bank. The project is meant to create inland waterway for transportation between Haldia and Varanasi, on the 1,360-km stretch of the Ganges river. The loan sanctioned by World Bank covers 45% cost of the project, being undertaken under the Jal Marg Vikas scheme by the Shipping Ministry. The proposed project will facilitate navigation of commercial vessels with a capacity of 1,500-2,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT). Serving the industries on the banks of river Ganga, the new waterway will pass through four states namely Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh. The industrial cities of Ghazipur, Bhagalpur, Kolkata, Howrah, Patna, Haldia, Allahabad and Varanasi will immensely benefit from this initiative. The development of National Waterway 1 (NW1) will also provide a good ...
Integration of inland waterways, coastal roads on 2020 agenda: Minister
The Dollar Business Bureau The Bill for declaration of 101 waterways as National Waterways (NW) is going to be introduced in the current Parliament session. This was informed by the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari, in a Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting of the Ministry of Shipping, on Thursday. Speaking at the meet, the Union Minister further informed that the developmental process of the waterways found feasible for navigation, would be commenced from 2016-17. The Union Minister also informed about a proposal for establishment of a multimodal grid with road, rail and port connectivity with river terminals, on the existing National Waterways and Barak River. The already-approved Jal Marg Vikas (NW-I) is a component ...