Inland Waterways Authority of India signs Memorandum of Understanding with Numaligarh Refinery Limited

GUWAHATI: The Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways and Ayush Sarbananda Sonowal attended the historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony between the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) to use National Waterways-2 (Brahmaputra) and the Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR) for the export of petroleum products to Bangladesh and other south-east Asian countries here on Thursday.

The MoU is aimed at powering the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan to boost India’s Act East Policy. NRL will export around 10,000 MT of petroleum and petrochemical products per month from the IWAI Jogighopa Multi-Modal Terminal. NRL to set up POL Oil Terminal at Jogighopa Logistics Park with rail connectivity. This MoU is aimed at fulfilling the ‘Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for the Northeast’ by enabling inland waterway transportation via NW2 and IBPR, unveiling a new chapter of EXIM trade for the Northeast region.

Speaking on the occasion, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “It is a watershed moment for inland waterways for the promotion of trade in the Northeast India region. The MoU is aimed at powering the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan to bring in transformative change in the cargo movement for the region. Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the visionary Act East policy is empowering Northeast India towards unlocking the full potential of Hydrocarbon Vision 2030.”

The MoU was signed by A. Selva Kumar, Director, IWAI, and Subrata Das, Chief General Manager (Marketing), NRL. Under this MoU, the IWAI is to provide its terminal for cargo movement, providing technical support, land to lay down petroleum pipelines, bunkering facilities to be operated at various places en-route to the IBPR, providing assistance through its vessels, and providing technical assistance in making available vessels like tugs, work boards, survey vessels, and other vessels as and when required. NRL will provide 40 acres of land with the provision of getting connected to the nearest railway station at Jogighopa, erecting the loading and unloading facility, and realising a vision to transport 10,000 MT of petroleum and petrochemical products per month through NW-2 and IBPR from the IWAI jetty at the Jogighopa MMT Park.

Speaking further, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “NRL is in the process of executing the Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project (NREP), a refinery expansion-cum-modernization project with a capex of Rs 28,026 crore. As part of the project, NRL shall transport over 16 numbers of overdimensional and overweight consignments (ODC and OWC). Already, five ODC packages have been successfully transported from major industrial hubs in western India to the NRL project site via the Haldia Port and through the IBPR and NW2. The weight of cargo transported till now amounts to approximately 4,500 metric tonnes, and if it were transported via roadways, it would have required about 300 trucks.”

Highlighting further the role of inland waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “In line with the Prime Minister’s ‘Act East Policy’, the IWAI and Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways have been making transformational changes in the waterways sector in India over the last nine years.”

The ceremony was also attended by Union Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Labour and Employment, Rameshwar Teli; Minister of Transport, Excise, and Fisheries, Assam, Parimal Suklabaidya; Minister of Industries & Commerce, Public Enterprises, and Cultural Affairs, Assam, Bimal Borah; Sanjay Bandopadhyay, Chairman, IWAI; Dr. Ranjit Rath, Chairman, NRL, and CMD, OIL; Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan, Managing Director, NRL; Mayor of Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), Mrigen Sarania, among other senior officials of IWAI and NRL.

NRL is currently implementing a project to upgrade its refinery from 3.0 to 9.0 MMTPA at an approved cost of more than Rs 28,000 crore, which is scheduled for completion by early 2025. NRL has also initiated the process of implementing a project for setting up a petrochemical plant at a cost of Rs 7,231 crore.

IWAI is currently working on projects like an alternative road to Pandu port (NW 2), ship repair facilities at Pandu (NW 2), construction of an IWT terminal at Jogighopa (NW 2), construction of an IWT terminal at Bogibeel (NW 2), construction of a boundary wall at the IWT terminal at Jogighopa; construction, supply, and installation of two floating jetties at Bogibeel and Guijaan (on NW 2); construction of 7 nos. of floating jetties at Jogighopa, Pandu, Biswanath Ghat, Sadiya, Hatsingmari, Oiramghat, and Neamati (on NW 2); construction of an IWT terminal at Sonamura on Protocol Route 10; and renovation of terminal at Badarpur and Karimganj (NW 16). The Maritime Skill Development Centre for the Northeast is already functional, where regular training programmes are conducted to enable human resources to acquire skillsets to become adept in the maritime industry.

Earlier, NRL and IWAI had signed an MoU on August 26, 2021, for transporting ODC and OWC through the maritime route utilising the National Waterways. The first such consignment was received at a jetty near Numaligarh in June of this year. (PIB)

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