Mobile supermarkets on Ganges from next year

A city-based company has firmed up plans to launch two mobile floating supermarkets that would cruise the river Hooghly and offer consumers a new shopping experience.

Tirupati Vessel Ltd, a logistics company, will be spending Rs 100 crore for the venture.

"The floating supermarkets would connect many cities and towns along the river and reach out to the masses with multi-brand products and services," Rajiv Agarwal, managing director of Tirupati Vancom said.


Tirupati Vessel is a sister concern of Tirupati Vancom Pvt Ltd, which is one of the largest exporter of dry fly ash in India.

The mobile supermarkets would be replete with shops, markets, cineplex and other modern amenities for entertainment and shopping, would move along the Hooghly and connect many cities and towns and reach out to the masses with multi-brand products and services, Agarwal said.

He was speaking at the Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS), the big-ticket investment meet of the state government, that concluded yesterday.

The 'floating haat bazaar' is a project based on the mobile floating supermarket concept which is expected to be completed by next year.

Apart from investing in the floating supermarkets, the company also announced Rs 150 crore twin integrated RoRo (roll-on-roll-off) services projects in Bengal.

"The Rs 150 crore RoRo services project, the first such project in Bengal, would boost the transport logistics and move 500 trucks per day resulting in decongestion of many roads in and around the city," Agarwal said.

It would also help vehicles from the port to directly enter the National Highways and other roads. This project would be formally flagged off early next month, he said.