Guwahati, 26 Aug: State-run Numaligarh Refinery Ltd (NRL) on Thursday joined hands with IWAI for transportation of heavy equipment through waterways for its expansion project in Assam.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the northeast region’s largest refinery and Inland Waterways Authority of India for ferrying over-dimensional cargo and overweight consignment to a factory located at Numaligarh in Golaghat district of Assam.
NRL is expanding its capacity from 3 million metric tonne per annum to 9 MMTPA at an investment of Rs 22,594 crore, which includes a 1,398-km crude oil pipeline from Odisha’s Paradip to Numaligarh and a 654-km product channel from its facility to West Bengal’s Siliguri.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, while Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameshwar Teli attended the programme virtually.
“The MoU will pave the way for making rivers navigable throughout the year by IWAI and assist in bringing large consignments and capital equipment,” NRL said in a statement.
Dredging exercises will be carried out extensively along the riverine route to facilitate the transportation process, it added.
As part of the expansion works, over 1,000 equipment will be transported from across the country and abroad, the company said.
“NRL intends to implement multi-modal transportation through road and waterways to secure delivery of its equipment. Sea and riverine routes will be leveraged to connect the major ports in the western region of the country to the northeast,” it said.
The refiner will use vessels for ferrying consignments up to Haldia port in West Bengal, while barges will be deployed on the rivers to transport cargoes through India-Bangladesh Protocol Route to Assam.
“As many as 13 over-dimensional cargoes have been identified for transportation exclusively through waterways. The maximum dimension of the ODC equipment shall be 97 metre in length, 10.3 metre in diameter and 960 metric tonnes in weight,” the release said.
As the maximum length of a barge is restricted to 60 metre, equipment with more than the specified length will be ferried in two pieces, it stated.
“The infrastructural development being envisaged along the waterways can be used in future for shipping of dry cargo from the refinery and agricultural produce from the region, thereby enhancing connectivity of the northeastern states with the rest of the country and also extending our footprint to global export destinations,” NRL said. (PTI)