INLAND WATERWAYS
TRANSPORTATION IN INDIA
WITH REFERENCE TO COAL
4TH COAL MARKET IN INDIA 2014,
22ND AUGUST 2014, NEW DELHI, IBK MEDIA
Dr.R.Giri Prasad,
Associate Professor & HOD,
Dept. of Petroleum Technology,
Aditya Engineering College, Kakinda, Andhra Pradesh,
India
•
INTRODUCTION
The share of India’s inland water transport (IWT) cargo traffic to
the logistics market is significantly lower at 0.5 as compared to
China at 8.7 percent, the US at 8.3 percent and Europe at 7
percent. However, the Indian IWT landscape holds immense
potential due to its characteristic advantages over other modes of
transportation, especially for coal movement.
• India has about 14,500 km of navigable inland waterways, of
which 5,200 km (36 percent) of major rivers and 485 km (3
percent) of canals are conducive to the movement of mechanised
vessels. Among these navigable waterways, five National
Waterways (NWs) — NWs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, spanning
approximately 4,400 km — have been outlined as potential inland
waterways at the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, the West Coast
Canal, the Godavari and Krishna rivers, and the East Coast Canal,
respectively. NW 6, which stretches across 121 km, has been
proposed on the Barak River.
WATERWAYS OF INDIA
HISTORY OF INLAND WATER
TRANSPORTATION
•
•
•
•
•
•
Inland Water Transportation was important mode in
the past
In 19th century steamers were plying from Kolkata up
to Garhmukteshwar and Dibrugarh in the Ganga &
Brahmaputra respectively
Development of Railways & Roads gave IWT a setback
In 1970s, IWT for NER revived with IWT&T Protocol
between India & Bangladesh
In 1980s and 1990s, CIWTC used to ply vessels from
Kolkata to Guwahati and Karimganj routes
Transported over 4 lakh tonne cargo in 1989-90, now
engaged only in lighter age movement
NAGALAND
TEJPUR
SILGHAT
P
31C
I
N
D
JOGIGHOPA
DHUBRI
I
A
ASSAM
PANDU
31
DISPUR
37
P
37
36
INDO – BANGLADESH
PROTOCOL ROUTES
KOHIMA
DAIKHAWA
31
40
SHISHUMARA
SHILLONG
51
CHILMARI
MEGHALAYA
53
BAHADURABAD
34
MANIPUR
ZAKIGANJ
SYLHET
LAKHIPUR
53
BHANGA
KARIMGANJ
MARKULI
B A N G L A D E S H
GODAGARI
SIRAJGANJ
RAJSHAHI
P
DHULIAN
BAGHABARI
IMPHAL
P
FENCHUGANJ
SHERPUR
AJMIRIGANJ
54
BHAIRAB
BAZAR
ARICHA
ASHUGANJ
44
TRIPURA
DHAKA
AKHAURA
AGARTALA
NARAYANGANJ
N
AIZWAL
MIZORAM
P
Legend
CHANDPUR
2
35
KOLKATA
P
6
KHULNA
BARISAL
P
CHALNA
KAUKHALI
P
MONGLA
41
HALDIA
ANGTIHARA
P
NAMKHANA
Bay of Bengal
Declared National waterway
Proposed National waterway
Protocol route
Road
Rail
NH
51
Protocol route distances
Kolkata - Guwahati/Pandu ...... 1535 km
Kolkata - Karimganj...................1318 km
Dhulian-Rajshahi...........................78 km
7
Myanmar (Burma)
KOTTAPURAM
N
National Waterway-3
17
West Coast Canal
ALUVA
(Kottapuram – Kollam)
Champakkara & Udyogamandal canals
UDYOGAMANDAL CANAL
49
KAKKANAD(CSEZ)
CHAMPAKKARA CANAL
MARADU
KOCHI
47
River distance
Kottapuram - Kollam
168 km
Udyogamandal canal
23 km
Champakkara canal
14 km
Total length
205 km
VAIKOM
K
CHERTHALA
THANNERMUKKOM
LOCK CUM BARRAGE
E
ALAPPUZHA
220
R
A
THRIKKUNNAPUZHA
THRIKKUNNAPUZHA
LOCK GATE
L
KAYAMKULAM
Arabian Sea
A
CHAVARA
KOLLAM
208
Legend
Waterway alignment
Road
Rail
Important places
Development cost- Rs 1515 cr (2010prices)
Notified on 25.11.2008
Development cost- Rs 4210 cr (2010 prices)
Notified on 25.11.2008
Proposed National Waterway – 6 : River Barak

Length –121 km

Development cost -Rs 120 cr (at 2011 prices)

Status: Declaration in process
Badarpur
Bhanga
Stretch
Km
Bhanga - Lakhipur
121
Silchar
ROAD AND RAIL NETWORK
Roads have always been the primary mode of transport in India. India has one
of the largest road networks of approximately 42.36 lakh kms. As per the Road
Transport & Highways Department around 60% of the total freight and around
87% of passenger traffic is carried by Indian roads. Traffic is forecasted to grow
at around 8-10% p.a.
A large portion of railway sidings is single line and is utilized by passenger
as well as freight trains. The sharing of railway sidings amongst the
passenger and freight trains causes disruption in the smooth functioning of
the trains. Long waiting times and uncertainty of arrival are the two
primary reasons for the delay in time of freight goods.
The overall freight traffic has been continuously rising. Over the last 10
years, traffic has grown at a CAGR of 6.27%. IR‟s available infrastructure
does not have enough capacity to cater to this traffic leading to severe
network capacity constraints.
WORLD COAL RESERVES
Ukraine
4%
Kazakhstan
4%
South
Africa
4%
Serbia
2%
Germany
5%
United States
29%
India
8%
Australia
10%
China
14%
Russia
20%
Coal: demand - supply gap
800
• Power generation
capacity: a critical
700
requirement
• Coal: the main source 600
of energy
500
• Current coal demand:
400
696 MMT
• May become 1000
300
MMT by 2017
• Estimated coal to be 200
imported : 137 MMT 100
696.03
656.31
597.98
550
573.42
535.23
559
497.29
COAL DEMAND(MMT)
DOMESTIC (MMT)
IMPORTED(MMT)
137.03
52.71
62.75
82.89
0
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
Power Sector Overview
Installed Capacity –Fuel wise
Renewable
Nuclear
3%
Installed Capacity
[GW]
2007
124
By 2012
190
By 2017
290
By 2022
425
By 2027
575
By 2032
800
10%
Hydro
20%
Diesel
1%
Year
Coal
54%
Gas
10%
Generation Installed Capacity (as on 31.12.2011) :
187 GW
INLAND WATER TRANSPORTATION
ADVANTAGES
One liter of fuel moves
(T-km)
105
120
85
Road
80
24
40
Rail
Fuel efficiency: One HP moves
Kgs
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
4000
0
IWT
Road Rail IWT
Road
Rail
150
500
IWT
6
Operating cost (international level)
Cents /T km
5.2
4
2.5
1
2
Road
Rail
IWT
Road
0
Road
Rail
IWT
Rail
IWT
Parameters
IWT
Rail
Road
Energy efficiency: 1 4,000
horse power (HP)
can move what
weight cargo (kg)?
500
150
Fuel efficiency: 1
liter of fuel can
move how much
freight (ton – km)?
105
85
24
Equivalent single
unit carrying
capacity
1 barge
15 rail wagons
60 trucks
Air pollution
Low
Medium
High
Land Acquisition
Low
High
High
Capital required
Low
High
High
Note: the information is for indicative comparison only,
Source: Inland Waterways Authority of India.
IWT USAGE OTHER COUNTRIES
Coal is the largest commodity by volume moving on
waterways
–USA’s thermal power plants use waterways for >
20 % of coal
–Germany: 45%
–China: 17%
–India: practically nil
Coal transportation bottlenecks
• Railway Congestion
• Shortage of rakes
• Shortage of bottom opening wagons
Railway network has its own limitations in terms of
zonal capacities, inter-zone re-deployment of rakes,
etc.
• Port congestion
• Low draft at some ports like Haldia

Hence, overdependence on railways needs to be reduced:
road is out of question : IWT a realistic supplementary
option, especially for imported coal
Thermal power plants along NW-1
Muzaffarpur
8
14
Barauni
Buxar
Allahabad
15
19
12
6
Kahalgaon
13
Bhagalpur9
Barh 11
10
18
Bara
Karchana
16
17
Anapara
Obra
8
THANK
YOU
Lakhisarai
7 Pirpainti
6
5
Farakka
Installed power: around 15,000 MW
20
Total coal requirement: around 75 MMTPA

Imported coal: around 15 MMTPA
NTPC Plants
State Govt Plants
Proposed Power Plants
Sagardighi 4
Bandel
Budge Budge 2
Kolaghat
8
Expansion
3
1
Haldia
• NTPC’s TPS at Farakka & Kahalgaon face acute
shortage of coal
• They require 3-4 MMT of imported coal
• But due to several reasons, transportation of this coal
has been a difficult and costly proposition for NTPC
 Draft constraint at Haldia: Available draft-7.0 m
 High waiting time at Paradip port
 Limited rake availability for transportation from port
 High Logistics cost leads to high delivered cost of
coal
 Handling/ transition losses
 Delayed delivery leading to additional losses








After sustained persuasion by IWAI, NTPC gave commitment
for transportation of 3 MMTPA imported coal by IWT for these
plants for 7 years
IWAI & NTPC developed a project with entire funding by
private sector
Project comprises of: Transhipment equipment at sea; about
40 barges; a terminal at Farakka; and coal conveyors from
terminal to coal stack yard at Farakka
Approximate cost: Rs 650 crore
By open tendering Jindal ITF identified as L1 bidder
Tripartite agreement signed among IWAI, NTPC & Jindal ITF
on 11.8.11
Supply of coal to start in December, 2012
This could be a path breaking project for IWT in India
Support provided by IWAI/NTPC
• Guaranteed cargo by NTPC- 3 MMTPA for 7 years
• Assurance from IWAI to provide LAD OF 2.5 Mts.
between Haldia- Farakka for at least 330 days in a
year
– Suitable for 1500 T – 2000 T barges
•
•
•
•
Vertical clearance of 10 Mts.
Assured night navigation facility
Connectivity through DGPS stations
Facilitation of transfer of land at Farakka for terminal
JITF PROPOSED SOLUTION
Transshipper at high sea
Barges on NW-1
Destination
: Jetty with grab unloaders at destination
Vessel types
River Barge
Tug and Dumb Barge
Estuarine Ship
Pushboat and Dumb Barges
Conclusion
•
•
•
•
•
•
Water is a critical mode of transportation for any economy. Although it is a cost-effective
and environment-friendly mode of transport, its share in the modal mix in India is
significantly less than that in developed countries. Domestic shipping provides significant
fuel and cost savings over road and rail transport and, thus, offers several opportunities to
meet the demand for bulk transportation to nearby areas and along the coast, which is
highly relevant for India. However, its low penetration in the country is a result of the long
period it takes to transport goods, the unavailability of return cargo, lack of awareness of its
benefits and various regulatory policies.
Only 7 per cent of Indian cargo moves through the water as against more than 40 per cent
in China and European Union, despite having rivers and a long coastline.
With 10-11 TPS already in the vicinity of NW-1 and 10 more coming up; it will be unfortunate
if we still do not use IWT for coal transportation thereon
Railways can simply not meet this demand- if waterways are not used, power generation will
suffer- there is no other way
Haldia- Farakka coal transportation project can therefore be a trailblazer
Currently, Indian companies do not use the coastal route because of lack of roads and
railways connecting ports to factories or consumption centres. The new government, in its
maiden budget, allotted Rs4,200 crore to develop Ganga for inland waterway, giving a major
push to coal transportation in the region.