LNG bunkering facility being planned
Work has started with the foundation stone laying of the Rs.155 crore Intermodal Terminal at Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh.
Aided by the World Bank, the terminal is being constructed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India on river Ganga or the National Waterway (NW)-I.
It will have linkage to both NW-I or River Ganga and National Highway (NH)-19 which is just 650 metres away and links Ghazipur with Patna in Bihar.
The terminal will have facilities like berths, storage areas and sheds, terminal building, communications systems and electrical substation. A Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering facility is being planned.
It will have a handling capacity of 12 lakh tonnes per annum.
The first phase of the terminal construction is expected to be completed by April, 2020.
The intermodal terminal is one of the several sub projects under the Rs.5,369 Crore Jal Marg Vikas project.
The other sub projects include construction of three multi modal terminals at Varanasi, Sahibganj and Haldia; a new navigational lock at Farakka, bank protection works, river navigation system, construction of Ro-Ro terminals and another intermodal terminals at Kalughat.
NW-1 is an important constituent of the Eastern Transport Corridor of India, along with the proposed Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor and NH-2.
This corridor connects the National Capital Region (NCR) with the eastern and north-eastern states, and will also be an important link to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and other east and south-east Asian countries through the Kolkata Port and Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route.
Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation on 25 Jan 2018. fii-news.com