Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: The Assam Inland Waterways Company Ltd (AIWCL) inked a deal Tuesday to build a massive shipyard at Dharapur. This site sits just outside Guwahati. The state-run enterprise joined forces with Bharat A to Z (BAZ) Pvt Ltd to launch a new special purpose vehicle, Assam Shipyard Pvt Ltd (ASPL). This joint venture marks a major push for Northeast transit.
ASPL will design, build, and maintain ships, barges, and terminals. It handles everything from dry docking and marine works to overhauling aging fleets. The project kicks off with an initial investment of Rs 75 crore. This is just a slice of the Rs 475 crore total investment proposed by BAZ.
The facility targets 40 barges over the next five years. Plans also include container vessels to slash the cost of moving goods between Kolkata and the Northeast. The yard will tackle ship recycling, too. It supports owners of old vessels who want to swap to new models, aided by a government credit of roughly 40 percent on the old ship value. ASPL will produce security, passenger, and tourism boats, alongside floating jetties and landing craft for island transport.
AIWCL Managing Director Saranga Pani Sarma said the joint venture would strengthen the inland water transport sector in Assam, particularly cargo movement and tourism. Sarma noted that the state recently moved its first international cargo to Bangladesh from Dibrugarh for the first time in 70 years. He expects this new yard to link National Waterways 2 and 16.
The yard will be an AI-enabled facility. BAZ director Sohel Kazani says the design favors skilled workers over manual labor. A small team of outsiders will train locals at the start. "The shipyard was being planned as an AI-enabled facility where skilled manpower would play a central role in operations," Kazani said. Eventually, the project should generate around 900 jobs.
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