BISHKEK (TCA) — India is preparing to send the first consignment of goods to Russia through a new intercontinental multi-modal transport corridor that connects its port city of Mumbai to Russia’s St Petersburg, Iran’s PressTV reported citing India’s media.
The consignment would depart for Iran’s Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas in mid-January and would be then taken through the Iranian territory to Azerbaijan’s Baku by road and rail. It would be then taken to Russia by train.
This would formally launch the International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) that had been in the making for 17 years. Nevertheless, the INSTC would technically function fully a few months later, the Economic Times reported.
The ship, road and rail route connects India’s Mumbai to the Iranian port of Bander Abbas and further to Baku in Azerbaijan as well as Astrakhan, Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia before stretching to northern Europe and Scandinavia.
Currently, cargoes from India to Russia are carried on freight ships via the Red Sea, Suez Canal, Mediterranean Sea, the English Channel and the Baltic Sea.
The INSTC, with an estimated cargo capacity of 20-30 million tons per year, is expected to provide faster and more efficient trade connectivity between Europe and Southeast Asia.
The INSTC will be India’s second corridor to access Central Asia, after the Chabahar Port in Iran, whose Phase 1 was inaugurated on December 3, the Economic Times wrote.
