Summary of 14Th Pilot Movement Kolkata to Varanasi Pepsico
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Plan and Implementation Support for Commercialization of NW-1 Summary of 14th Pilot Movement Kolkata to Varanasi PepsiCo 22nd January 2019 Plan and Implementation Support for Commercialization of NW-1 Summary of 14th Pilot Movement Kolkata to Varanasi PepsiCo This report has been prepared by: HPC Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH Am Ballinkai 1 21129 Hamburg, Germany JV HPC-UC C/o HPC Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH Phone: +49-40-74008 108 Fax: +49-40-322764 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.hpc-hamburg.de Copyright © by HPC Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH 22nd January 2019 Plan and Implementation Support for Commercialization of NW-1 – Summary of 14th Pilot Movement Kolkata to Varanasi 3 Table of Contents List of Figures…………… ..............................................................................................................................4 List of Tables…………. .................................................................................................................................4 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………........5 2 Preparation of Pilot Movement ........................................................................................................6 3 Financial Aspects ..............................................................................................................................7 4 Operational Aspects .........................................................................................................................8 4.1 Loading Procedure ....................................................................................................................9 4.2 In-transit Procedure ............................................................................................................... 11 4.3 Unloading Procedure ............................................................................................................. 13 5 Experiences and Findings ............................................................................................................... 15 6 Recommendations ......................................................................................................................... 16 7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… .... 17 Plan and Implementation Support for Commercialization of NW-1 – Summary of 14th Pilot Movement Kolkata to Varanasi 4 List of Figures Page Figure 1: Loading Location .......................................................................................................... 9 Figure 2: Loading operations .................................................................................................... 10 Figure 3: Movement Plan ......................................................................................................... 11 Figure 4: Cargo Vessel MV Rabindra Nath Tagore .................................................................... 12 Figure 5: Unloading Location .................................................................................................... 13 Figure 6: Unloading Operations ................................................................................................ 14 List of Tables Page Table 1: Freight and Transport Charges ...................................................................................... 7 Table 2: Pilot Movement at a Glance .......................................................................................... 8 Plan and Implementation Support for Commercialization of NW-1 – Summary of 14th Pilot Movement Kolkata to Varanasi 5 1 Introduction During recent years, the National Government of India and the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) as the statutory authority in charge of the national inland waterways have undertaken significant efforts to enhance the navigability on India’s National Waterways and to foster freight movements by inland waterway barge. The actions taken aim at the implementation of the government’s policy objective to increase the use of inland waterway transport (IWT) and make use of the potential benefits that this mode of transport offers for the country’s growing economy. Given the growth of India’s economy, existing transport networks are overloaded in many places and transportation of cargo and passengers by road and rail often suffers from heavy congestion as well as the presence of infrastructural bottlenecks. Environmental pollution and pursued sustainability goals moreover require a comprehensive as well as coordinated approach to an integrated national transportation policy. Given the existing network of rivers, canals and backwaters and recognizing IWT’s mode-specific advantages, the Indian Government thus intends to make transport by inland barge an integral part of the country’s transport system. Covering the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system, National Waterway-1 (NW-1) has the potential to open up large markets in the northeastern states of India for IWT. In order to ensure a sustainable and commercially viable development of IWT in these parts of the country, the competent authorities have invited external expertise for the project on Plan and Implementation Support for the Commercialization of NW-1. The given project thereby aims to facilitate actual business development and to foster the sustainable development of cargo movements on India’s longest National Waterway. As the commissioned consultants, a Joint Venture of HPC Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH, UNICONSULT Universal Transport Consulting GmbH and its local Partner La Mer Maritime Ltd. have put together a team of experts with comprehensive knowledge of the Indian inland waterway shipping sector and international IWT markets. In the course of the ongoing project work, the Consultants constantly engage into direct interaction with relevant market stakeholders as well as the competent public authorities, primarily aiming at the conduct of pilot movements and the closing of actual working contracts. This summary of the 14th pilot movement conducted within the scope of the ongoing project provides a documentation of the practical experiences made during this first movement of containerized cargo on NW-1. Building upon the findings of the given pilot transport as well as from current field work and the Consultant’s knowledge of the regional freight market in the northeastern parts of India, the given report moreover provides implementation- oriented recommendations for the further development of the necessary infrastructural conditions and processes for a successful and sustainable development of IWT on NW-1. In the following, Chapter 2 provides an overview on the background of the first container pilot movement form from Kolkata, West Bengal to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh and the efforts undertaken to initiate it. Chapter 3 presents financial issues while Chapter 4 provides details on the operational aspects. Chapter 5 summarizes relevant findings and experiences while Chapter 6 gives recommendations on further needs for action. Plan and Implementation Support for Commercialization of NW-1 – Summary of 14th Pilot Movement Kolkata to Varanasi 6 2 Preparation of Pilot Movement The 14th pilot movement conducted within the scope of the current project constitutes the first container transport on NW-1 and was arranged and timed as part of the official opening of the new Varanasi Multi Modal Terminal (MMT). In identifying a suitable shipper for the conduct of the pilot transport, the Consultants’ local team of experts has inter alia been in contact with the Indian subsidiary of the multinational food, snack, and beverage company PepsiCo. Since entering the Indian market in 1989, the American company has constantly invested in the areas of product innovation, manufacturing capacity, market infrastructure as well as supply chain optimization. In doing so, PepsiCo has grown into one of the foremost foods and beverage suppliers in India and operates 62 plants across the country.1 As a result of comprehensive discussions, PepsiCo India agreed on the conduct of a first pilot movement on the transport of approximately 85 metric tons of food products between Kolkata, West Bengal and Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The cargo was thereby transported in containerized form and packed into 16 twenty-foot container units (TEU) that were arranged by the Consultants. With costs for first and last mile transport borne by IWAI, an original freight rate of INR 35,500 per TEU for barge transport from Kolkata, West Bengal to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh was thereby agreed on (excl. costs for loading and unloading – loading and unloading also borne by IWAI). Following the approval by the competent authorities, the pilot movement was thereafter initialized and all preparatory actions were taken. As the inland waterway vessel assigned for the transport, MV Rabindra Nath Tagore was relocated to Kolkata GR Jetty, West Bengal and loading of cargo took place on 29th October 2018. Specific requirements regarding the choice of vessel included the ability to carry standard containers at low draught and an operational speed of around 7-8 knots. 1 See: http://www.pepsicoindia.co.in/company/pepsico-india/about-us Plan and Implementation Support for Commercialization of NW-1 – Summary of 14th Pilot Movement Kolkata to Varanasi 7 3 Financial Aspects Under the coordination of the Consultants’ team of local experts, PepsiCo India as the commissioning shipper and IWAI as the barge operator reached an agreement on the conduct of a first container pilot movement of 16 TEU on