Moneycontrol News

After Varanasi, Patna (Bihar) will become the second city in India to receive container cargo via waterways, the government said on December 6.

According to a release by the shipping ministry, Gaighat terminal at Patna, on Ganga river, will receive cargo consignment from PepsiCo and Emami Agrotech next week. The consignment carrying 16 TEU (equivalent to 16 truckloads) started from Kolkata, on December 5, and will travel 815 kilometers across the National Waterway-1 to reach Gaighat Inland Water Transport (IWT) terminal.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India's first multi-modal terminal in Varanasi under Jal Marg Vikas Project and received first cargo consignment by PepsiCo.

"Kolkata-Patna is India’s new IWT origin-destination pair for containerised cargo movement on the National Waterway-1. Plans are at an advanced stage to operationalise Patna-Varanasi sector of NW-1 for container cargo movement," read the government's statement.

The JMV project is being carried out at an approximate cost of Rs 5,369 crore to develop waterways across NW-1. The project will enable movement of cargo weighing almost 1,500 - 2,000 DWT.

"According to the World Bank economic analysis, of the 1.5 lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities to be created due to interventions under JMVP, 50,000 will be in Bihar alone," the release said.