A plan has been put forward to build a bulk cargo terminal on the Ganga River at Sahibgunj, in Jharkhand, close to Coal India’s Rajmahal coal terminal. This will be financed as part of the World Bank’s $648 million programme to promote use of the National Waterway 1, which stretches 1,620km from Allahabad to Kolkata.

The new terminal will mainly handle coal and potentially be able to serve NTPC power plants at Farakka, Kahalgaon, Sagardighi and Kolaghat. At present, Sagardighi receives coal via a combination of both road and rail, so costs would be cut dramatically were inland waterways to be used. BC