Guwahati: Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal received the first over dimensional cargo (ODC) transported via waterways at Numaligarh Refinery jetty on Friday.

 This is the first consignment transported by Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), nodal agency of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways in charge of inland waterways in the country, for the expansion of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) capacity from 3 MMT to 9 MMT.

The MoU to transport a total of 24 ODC as well as Over Weight Cargo (OWC) for NRL was signed between IWAI and NRL last year in presence of Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal last year.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal said, “Today, Assam has witnessed a memorable event when an ODC was transported from Kolkata to Numaligarh using inland waterways. This is the true realisation of Prime Minister  Narendra Modi ji’s vision of transformation via transportation. While Modi ji’s commitment to enable Numaligarh to become an energy hub in the region, its capacity expansion in a relatively short duration of time would not have been possible without the smooth transportation of as many as 24 ODC & OWC meant for NRL expansion. Given the thrust to empower the waterways of India, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, our ministry took it upon to make this transport happen in a swift and smooth manner. With the successful arrival of first ODC at the NRL, traversing a huge distance via waterways, the role of Inland Waterways to empower the growth of Assam as well as that of Northeast India is imminent and I believe it is going to play a pivotal role in the rapid transformation of our region via an economical, ecological and sustainable mode of transportation.”

The first ODC was transported by an IWAI ship – MV Marine 66 – from Kolkata to Numaligarh Refinery Jetty via Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR). The Disel Hydrotreating (DHT) reactor weighs 485 MT in net while the gross weight was 521 MT. The length of this reactor is 31.5 meters while height is 8.250 meters along with a diameter of 8.00 meters.

The ODC left Kolkata on 18 March and reached Numaligarh after travelling for nearly three months via Bangladesh. IWAI, in assistance from Dredging Corporation of India (DCI), also employed three dredgers at five locations in Dhansiri since March to make this transportation a success. These three dredgers are CSD Mandovi, CSD Brahmini & HSD Jia Bhoroli.

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