Tata Steel uses inland waterways to ship heavy machinery for Kalinganar project

Tata Steel on Tuesday said it has used inland waterways in Odisha to bring in heavy machinery for its ongoing Kalinganagar plant expansion project. Development of inland waterways for the industry is a focus area of the government as transportation of goods is cheaper through this route compared to rail and road. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, on the National Maritime Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India's maritime sector has scaled new heights in the last eight years and contributed to boosting trade and commercial activities.

In a statement, Tata Steel Vice President (TQM and Engineering & Projects) Avneesh Gupta said, the move will pave the way for a sustainable logistics model with a potential cost advantage, which will be achieved through consolidation and import of plant and machinery in an assembled condition. "It will also contribute towards decarbonisation of the steel sector and the country while also improving road safety due to minimised road movement," he said.

Sharing the details of the consignment, Tata Steel said it sailed in a chartered vessel from Shanghai to Paradip port in Odisha, from where it was shipped to Marsaghai through river Luna. It was further transported to the project site using roadways on April 2. Tata Steel's Engineering & Project (E&P) Division used multimodal logistics including inland waterways for shipping nearly 1,000 cubic meters of four super over dimensional assembled cargo. These project cargoes are part of the slag granulation plant that is being set up in Kalinganagar, it said.