ITC has become the second company, after Amazon, to employ inland waterways for commercial transport, as per an official statement.
The statement added that ITC Limited has teamed up with the Inland Waterways Authority of India to transport FMCG products through inland waterways using National Waterway 1.
On March 14th, a ship loaded with eight containers of processed food products (Noodles) from ITC Ltd departed from Kolkata to Patna.
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The cargo is being transported using MV Rabindranath Tagore, which boasts a carrying capacity of 16 TEUs.
It is operated by Inland and Coastal Shipping Limited (ICSL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Shipping Corporation of India.
In November last year, IWAI signed an MoU with Amazon India Ltd and successfully facilitated the movement of its first e-commerce cargo through National Waterway 1.
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Inland Waterways Authority of India is committed towards developing national waterways and make IWT a more viable mode of transportation, the statement said.
According to the statement, Under the Jal Marg Vikas Project, IWAI is developing National Waterway 1 (Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system) to improve navigation and facilitate smooth passenger and cargo movement.
As on February this year, total cargo movement on national waterways was recorded at 122.21 million tonnes which is 7.2% higher than the corresponding figures of last year. The collaboration between ITC Ltd and IWAI will pave the way for similar partnerships in future and open new possibilities for private sector to leverage the extensive inland waterways in India.
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