VARANASI: Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has said that from waterways, to railways, to air transport, to highways, the Country is progressing in every field and in the next 25 years India will be a self-reliant country as envisioned by the Prime Minister. Speaking at the inauguration of seven community jetties and foundation stone of 8 more jetties in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh he said the under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, work is being done for development from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh under the policy of 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat'.
Shri Sonowal said India is implementing policies that would enable creation of world-class infrastructure. He said Prime Minister emphasis on developing national waterways has unleashed strong economic multipliers encompassing logistics, trade, city infrastructure, water supplies and tourism is an exemplification of this vision. Shri Sonowal said the Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti Summit 2022 will pave the way forward for enhanced and coordinated efforts towards comprehensive development of waterways led transport & logistics sector in the country. He added that active waterways, when used for regular logistics and passenger travel, necessarily creates landing and loading/unloading points on the banks of the rivers. The Minister said this makes large areas of the hinterland accessible to the routes of trade and commerce, making goods from these areas part of the national and global supply chain network, opening up new markets for everyone—from farmers to craftspeople to factories.
Shri Sonowal said that the focus on "port-led development" is central to this vision to create seamless multi-modal connectivity for movement of people and cargo, with focus on removing barriers to last mile connectivity, emblematic of the Prime Minister’s Atmanirbhar and
Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’ vision.
On this occasion, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath said that not only will Uttar Pradesh benefit from the help of PM Gati Shakti Yojana, but the entire Country will develop.
He said many schemes have been implemented under the able leadership of Prime Minister, which is realizing the dream of Ek Bharat Shreshtha. He thanked the Prime Minister that such a beautiful gift has been given to Varanasi. This will help in easing the traffic from Varanasi to other places in the country. It will also help exports of agricultural and other products from Uttar Pradesh, which is a landlocked state, to efficiently reach sea ports through the inland waterways, Shri Adityanath added.
Shri Sarbananda Sonowal inaugurated seven community jetties in the presence of Shri Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh and other dignitaries and also laid the foundation stone of eight more jetties on the river Ganga in Uttar Pradesh.
The Spiritual City of India is all set to receive the most advanced Hydrogen Fuel Cell Catamaran Vessels, announced Shri Sonowal in the presence of leading dignitaries. The city will get one Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vessel and four Electric Hybrid Vessels for Varanasi. An MoU was signed between the Inland Waterways Authority of India and Cochin Shipyard Limited during the event.
The Government through IWAI, has assigned this project to Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Kochi, which has recently delivered the country's first indigenous Air Craft Carrier.
According to the MoU between IWAI and CSL, the design and development of the Zero Emission 100 pax Hydrogen Fuel Cell Passenger Catamaran Vessel will be undertaken by CSL in collaboration with KPIT, Pune. The catamaran vessel will be deployed at Varanasi after test and trial at Kochi. Based on the success of this Project, the technology can be adopted for greening of, cargo vessels, small country crafts etc. enabling significant reduction in pollution levels in the National Waterways.
CSL will also build 8 Hybrid electric Catamaran vessels as per the MoU. The project was approved by the central government at a cost of Rs.130 crores. The vessels with a capacity of 50 pax will be deployed in Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mathura-Vrindavan and Guwahati.
