Kolkata, Dec 29 (IANS): The Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) on Thursday said that it has awarded the contract for constructing a Rs 517 crore multi-modal terminal at West Bengal's Haldia as a part of development of National Waterway-1 on the Ganga to infrastructure firm ITD Cementation Ltd.
The terminal is to be completed by August 2019, the IWAI said.
As much as 7.95 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of cargo traffic at the Haldia terminal is expected to be handled by 2020. The cargo projection for 2025 is 15.59 mtpa, growing up to 24.04 mtpa in 2045, it said.
"The Rs 517 crore inland water transport terminal at Haldia, with rail and road interconnectivity, is one of the three multi-modal terminals to come up on river Ganga under the Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP)," said IWAI Chairman Amitabh Verma.
The terminal will be used to transport coal, fly ash, chemicals, petroleum and gas, construction materials, fertilisers and edible items.
"Six bids were received from major infrastructure companies and following a rigorous evaluation process, ITD Cementation Ltd was awarded the contract," the authority said.
The contract for multi-modal terminals at Varanasi at Rs 170 crore and Sahibganj in Jharkhand at Rs 280 crore were awarded earlier this year and construction work has started at both the locations.
In November, the authority awarded Rs 359 crore contract for construction of a modern navigation lock at Farakka in West Bengal.
The Haldia terminal that will be spread across 61 acres of land at the Haldia Dock Complex will have facilities including berthing space for four vessels, stockyard for storing, belt conveyor system with fixed hoppers, barge loader, shore protection works, roads, ramps and parking area, and other terminal buildings.
The government is developing the National Waterway-1 under the Jal Marg Vikas Project, with technical and financial assistance of the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs 5,369 crore.
The project would enable commercial navigation of vessels with capacity of 1500-2,000 tonnes.