Shipping giant Maersk to start using Ganga waterway from Tuesday

The world's largest container shipping company Maersk Line will on Tuesday move 16 containers on the Ganga river from Varanasi to Kolkata, the Shipping Ministry said Monday.

"Maersk Line will move 16 containers on river Ganga (National Waterway-1) from Varanasi to Kolkata tomorrow. The firm is onboard India's inland waterways for the first time," the ministry said in a statement.

On November 12, 2018, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated India's first riverine multimodal terminal on river Ganga (National Waterway-1) at Varanasi to the nation.

The government is developing NW-1 under from Haldia to Varanasi with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank at an estimated cost of Rs 5,369 crore, the ministry said.

Earlier firms like PepsiCo, Emami Agrotech, IFFCO Fertilizers, Dabur India, had moved their containers on river Ganga, it added.