UltraTech Pioneers Inland Waterways for Gypsum Transport | Sustainability in Cement

Kolkata, Dec 15 (PTI) UltraTech Cement on Sunday claimed it becomes India's first in the cement sector to leverage National Waterway 1 (Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system) for gypsum transport at scale for sustainable and cost-effective logistics.

The pilot consignment transporting mineral gypsum at scale was flagged off by the Union Minister for Shipping, Ports, and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal at GR Jetty in Kolkata is being shipped from Haldia Port in West Bengal to the Gaighat terminal in Bihar capital Patna.

UltraTech will be able to leverage the government's ‘Jalvahak' scheme, which incentivises cargo transport on waterways.

Under the scheme, cargo owners transporting goods over distances exceeding 300 km via inland waterways are eligible for up to 35 per cent reimbursement on operating costs, further enhancing the economic viability of the initiative.

The gypsum will be transported to UltraTech's Pataliputra Cement Works, a grinding unit in Patna district.

"This initiative underscores our commitment to green logistics as an enabler of our Net Zero goal by 2050," UltraTech's Managing Director K C Jhanwar said.

UltraTech had earlier demonstrated its commitment to sustainable supply chain practices in April 2023, when it transported 57,000 metric tonnes of phosphogypsum via inland and coastal waterways from Paradeep Port in Odisha to its Gujarat Cement Works in Amreli, Gujarat.