Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal received the maiden voyage of food-grains from Patna to Pandu via Bangladesh in Guwahati. Chief Minister of Assam, Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma along with Sanjay Bandopadhyay, Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) welcomed the self-propelled vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri carrying a total of 200 MT of foodgrains for the Food Corporation of India (FCI) as it completed the maiden pilot run from Patna to Pandu via Bangladesh. IWAI is planning to run a fixed schedule sailing between NW1 and NW2 heralding a new age of inland water transport for Assam and North East India.
The vessel started its sail from Patna on National Waterway-1 (river Ganga) and passed through Bhagalpur, Manihari, Sahibganj, Farakka, Tribeni, Kolkata, Haldia, Hemnagar; Indo Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route through Khulna, Narayanganj, Sirajganj, Chilmari and National Waterway-2 through Dhubri, and Jogighopa covering a distance of 2,350 km.
The IWAI is also planning to run a regularly scheduled service on these routes. The protocol on Inland water transit and Trade (PIWTT) between India and Bangladesh will be optimally beneficial when we can unlock the value from the cargo trade in the region. To improve the navigability, two stretches of IBP routes, i.e., Sirajganj-Daikhowa and Ashuganj-Zakiganj are also being developed at a cost of Rs 305.84 crore on an 80:20 share basis (80 per cent is borne by India and 20 per cent by Bangladesh).
