Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) has joined hands with the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) for transportation of heavy equipment through waterways for its expansion project in Assam.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the refinery and IWAI for ferrying over-dimensional cargo and overweight consignment to a factory located at Numaligarh in Golaghat district of Assam.
NRL is expanding its capacity from three million tpa to nine million tpa at an investment of Rs 22,594 crore, which includes 1,398 km crude oil pipeline from Odisha'sParadip to Numaligarh and 654 km product channel from its facility to West Bengal's Siliguri.
The MoU will pave the way for making rivers navigable throughout the year by IWAI and assist in bringing large consignments and capital equipment.
Dredging exercises will be carried out extensively along the riverine route to facilitate the transportation process. As part of the expansion works, more than 1,000 equipment will be transported from across the country and abroad.
NRL intends to implement multi-modal transportation through road and waterways to secure delivery of its equipment. Sea and riverine routes will be leveraged to connect major ports in the western region of the country to the North-East.
The refiner will use vessels for ferrying consignments up to Haldia port in West Bengal, while barges will be deployed on the rivers to transport cargoes through India-Bangladesh Protocol Route to Assam.
As many as 13 over-dimensional cargoes have been identified for transportation exclusively through waterways. The maximum dimension of the ODC equipment will be 97 mtr in length, 10.3 mtr in diameter and 960 tonne in weight.
As the maximum length of a barge is restricted to 60 mtr, equipment with more than the specified length will be ferried in two pieces.