Gadkari & Goyal flag off maiden voyage of concor vessel

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : The maiden coastal voyage of a vessel of Container Corporation of India (Concor) was flagged off by Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Shipping,  Road Transport & Highways and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, and Piyush Goyal, Union Minister for Railways and Coal, from Kandla through video link from here on January 10, 2019.

Concor is a PSU under Ministry of railways. The vessel SSL Mumbai is sailing from Kandla Port to Tuticorin via Mangalore and Cochin. This is a unique example of multi-modal logistics solution through integrated rail and coastal movement. With this Concor will start coastal movement of containers as a weekly service on this route moving about 1,400 containers.

Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari called this a historical day for the transport sector in India and expressed confidence that this modal shift in the logistics chain was an important beginning that would help bring down logistics costs and make Indian goods more competitive in the global markets in the very near future. India has huge potential for enhancing modal share of coastal shipping and inland water navigation. The current share is only 7% unlike countries like China with 24% and Germany 11% ,  he said.

Gadkari also said that besides being economical, coastal shipping is environmentally friendly and can result in 6% reduction in harmful chemicals and pollutants in India. With an estimated diversion of about 5% cargo to coastal shipping, the reduced traffic on rail and road can result in saving of Rs 230 billion, he said.

Urging Concor and other cargo transporters to utilise waterways and coastal shipping to enhance their business coefficient,  Gadkari said that the network of waterways is growing fast in the country. We have declared 111 National Waterways. Work has already started on 11 waterways. With a new river port at Varanasi and more coming up at Haldia, Sahibganj and Gazipur, and also dredging of Brahmaputra and Barak, goods can now be transported through rivers right up to Myanmar via protocol route of inland waterways.

With the total potential to move 9 million tones of cargo, Concor is expected to move about 2,700 containers per month in the first phase to Kandla for onward carriage by coastal route to southern ports like Cochin, according to a PIB release.

Speaking on the occasion, Goyal congratulated Concor & Ministry of Shipping for this joint venture. He said, “Railways has introduced many new reforms in the last 4.5 years. This is another first in the series of reforms. For instance, we have stopped producing the old model of coaches and started producing only LHB coaches, to eventually replace all old coaches. We have targeted 100 percent electrification over the vast Indian Railways network. The joint efforts of the Ministry of Road and Railways have led to the inauguration of the Bogibeel bridge. The Rail University, which has now been started, is preparing more than the 100 student for the transport sector. The new indigenous built Train 18, under Make in India initiative, will soon be flagged off on New Delhi -Varanasi route. “