Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on Thursday inked a pact with the world”s largest gas carrier MOL to facilitate transportation of LNG through Inland Waterways, the government said.
MOL Group is World’s largest gas carrier company and will invest in the construction and operation of dedicated LPG barges under the Make-in-India initiative of the Government of India. “A Memorandum of Understanding is signed between IWAI and MOL (Asia Oceania) Pte Ltd for transportation of LPG (Liquified Natural Gas) through barges on National Waterways-1 and National Waterways-2, in the presence of Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Mansukh Mandaviya,” Ministry of Ports, Waterways and Shipping said in a statement.
Inland Waterways Authority of India will provide support for adequate fairway, handling of LPG cargo on IWAI terminals/ multimodal terminals at Haldia, Sahibganj and Varanasi on request of MOL.
Presently 60% of the LPG is moved through road with a cost of INR 5 to INR 6 per metric ton per kilometre, which the oil companies are interested in reducing. Also, there are issues of strikes by transporters and road blockages which causes delay in transportation. Therefore, oil companies are keen on usage of waterways which is a cleaner and greener option.
Also, there are some areas in North East Region taht are difficult to approach, where the Inland Waterway Transport sector may provide a more feasible solution. The parcel size carried by barge could be bigger as compared to LPG tanker trucks that could carry 17 tons.
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