Kolkata : Tata Steel reiterated its commitment to building a sustainable future by successfully shipping nearly 1,800 tonnes of finished steel products from Haldia Port in West Bengal to Pandu Port in Assam using the Indo-Bangaldesh Protocol (IBP) route via Brahmaputra River. This shipment of Tata Steel’s TMT bars that arrived at Haldia on rail before being loaded on to river barges marks the beginning of the use of multimodal logistics, a landmark effort to decarbonise the steel sector and the country.
Earlier last week, Hon’ble Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, flagged off the barge ‘Kalpana Chawla’ carrying Tata Steel finished goods. Other dignitaries who were present at the inaugural included Shantanu Thakur, Hon’ble Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways; Dr Sanjeev Ranjan, Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways; Vinit Kumar, Chairman, SPM Port Trust; Peeyush Gupta, Vice President Supply Chain, Tata Steel & Chairman TM International Logistics Limited (TMILL); Ranjan Sinha, Chief Group Shipping, Tata Steel; and Dinesh Shastri, MD, TMILL.
Sarbananda Sonowal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and AYUSH, said that this maiden voyage showcases multimodal movement of cargo by harnessing the power of the river-sea combination for transportation. The Minister urged other stakeholders to move in the same direction and commit to make it a grand national success.
Peeyush Gupta, Vice President Supply Chain, Tata Steel, said: “The Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route will help us service the growing North East market better. This route can also be explored for servicing other locations enroute this waterway to deliver steel in smaller lots and in better condition for the benefit of customers in the North-East. The initiative paves the way for seamless and robust integrated logistics solution towards utilising inland waterways for India and Bangladesh.”
The IBP route will also help Tata Steel lower its scope 3 carbon footprint. In July 2021, the Company had also pioneered the use of electric vehicles to move finished goods in select locations.
The barge is operated by Oceanwhale Shipping Services while cargo handling at the ports is done by TM International Logistics Limited, a logistics joint venture between Tata Steel, NYK Japan and IQ Martrade, Germany. The barge used the Indo-Bangla Protocol route No.1 & 2 and entered the Brahmaputra River via Chilmari, in Bangladesh and ended its voyage at Dhubri in Assam covering 1,535 Kilometres.
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