Bhubaneswar: Marine experts on Saturday held a brainstorming session on how to give a boost to inland waterway transportation system in the state.

The session took place at an all-India seminar on natural gas in coastal and inland shipping, organised by the Forum for River and Ocean Scientists and Technologists and the Institute of Engineers (India), Odisha.

Inaugurating the two-day seminar here, marine engineer and chairman of the Marine Engineering Division of Institute of Engineers (India) Atanu K. Mukherjee said: "The NTPC has transported nearly three million tonnes of coal to its plant at Farakka using inland transport. This can be followed in Odisha, because it has huge potential to build the inland transport."

He said: "India can easily use natural gas in power generation and power utility purposes. It will give the required momentum to activity of storage, transportation and utility of gas on the Odisha coast and its hinterland."

Chairman of the Naval Research Board and president of the forum S.C. Misra said: "With demand for natural gas increasing rapidly in the country for road transport, energy generation and other industrial uses, it has become imperative to move natural gas along the coast and also in the rivers."