Vessel carrying food grains from Bihar to Guwahati flagged off, Union Min Piyush Goyal calls it 'Gateway of NE'

While flagging off vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri carrying food grains from Bihar's Patna to Guwahati's Pandu, Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal said on Saturday that it will open a new gate to the "Gateway of North East".

He also unveiled the foundation stone of a terminal at Kalughat of Bihar during the event.

"This 2,350 km voyage will open a new gate to the 'Gateway of North East' (Assam) and ensure seamless waterways connectivity to North Eat Region through Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers," said Goyal.

According to the official statement, the Minister while flagging the vessel named 'MV Lal Bahadur Shastri' said that it reminds him of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's slogan of "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan".

"This will make our farmers Aatmanirbhar by expanding their reach and providing them better prices and better living. This event is a perfect demonstration of PM's combined vision for 'Act East' policy and the inclusive development of Bihar & North East Region", he added.

The Minister stated that the planned intermodal terminal at Kalughat, Bihar with Rs.78 cr will provide a boost to the region's socio-economic development and create multiple job opportunities. This will also help decongest the roads of North Bihar and provide an alternative route for the transportation of cargo in this area.

He further said that this route from Patna can prove to be a viable alternative to the conventional mode of movement of foodgrains and goods for the North-East region.

The Minister informed that for seamless navigation to the North-East region, 2 stretches of Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route are being developed with Bangladesh having the budget of Rs. 305 crore.

"New scheme in budget with Rs. 1,500 cr for North East- PM-DevINE to fund infrastructure and social development projects, will enable livelihood activities for youth and women," he added.

The Minister mentioned that the India-Bangladesh friendship is reaching new heights under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina. He said that our friendship has evolved into a strategic partnership with multifaceted and deep collaboration in trade, investment, food security and technology.

"This event is another milestone and a testament to the ever-growing friendship between India and Bangladesh," he said.

This first food grain movement will be an integrated IWT movement via National Waterway-1 (River Ganga), NW-97 (Sunderbans), Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and NW-2 (river Brahmaputra).

Inland vessel MV Lal Bahadur Shastri carrying 200 Metric Ton of food grains belonging to the Food Corporation of India is the first food grain movement on this Inland Water Transport (IWT) route.

The 25-30 days voyage will be an integrated IWT movement via National Waterway-1 (River Ganga), NW-97 (Sunderbans), Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) route and NW-2 (river Brahmaputra). While on the voyage from Patna to Pandu (Guwahati), the vessel Lal Bahadur Shastri will traverse through Bhagalpur, Manihari, Sahibganj, Farakka, Tribeni, Kolkata, Haldia, Hemnagar, Khulna, Narayanganj Sirajganj, Chilmari, Dhubri and Jogighopa.

IWAI Terminal at Kalughat is located on river Ganga at Saran District in Bihar and the terminal is directly connected to NH 19. This terminal will be constructed at a cost of Rs. 78.28 crores.

( With inputs from ANI )