Kharagpur, Mar 10 (IANS): The Ministry of Shipping, under its flagship Sagarmala Programme, is setting up a state-of-the-art Centre for Inland and Coastal Maritime Technology (CICMT) at IIT-Kharagpur at a cost of Rs 69.20 crore, the institute said on Sunday.

The Centre will provide applied research and development, as also real world solutions for the inland and coastal waterways sector, as also coastal waterways transportation.

It would also provide tools and technological inputs to double the share in intermodal transport for domestic waterways freight carrying capacity, the IIT-Kharagpur statement said.

The project is of strategic long-term interests for the port and maritime sector of the country and is being fully funded under unique and innovative projects under Sagarmala.

The funding for CICMT is for five years after which revenues generated from the end users will make it sustainable.

Currently, there is no testing and experimentation facility available in the country for inland and coastal vessels for which the shipbuilders have to approach various European countries. The CICMT is expected to address this long-felt need, the statement said.