In a bid to bring down logistics costs, the Centre has planned to develop 15 Mutimodal logistics Parks across the country at an estimated investment of Rs33,000 crore. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said the proposed logistics parks will bring down the overall freight costs, reduce vehicular pollution and congestion and will enable reduction of warehousing costs.
Gadkari said that there was an urgent need to improve logistics costs in India as of now India has very poor logistics Performance Index due to an unfavourable modal mix of transport and a lack of seamless intermodal connectivity. "The IITlS is envisaged as a platform for all stakeholders in transport and logistics sectors to come together and initiate collaborative partnerships to realise the various greenfield and brownfield opportunities in logistic parks, freight corridors and IT solutions," it added.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) inked a pact with the Tamil Nadu government for one such park for Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation ltd (TIDCO) for the development of a multimodal logistics park in the Ponneri Industrial Node area near Kamarajar Port in Tamil Nadu.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Gadkari and Tamil Nadu's Minister for industries M C Sampath.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is planning to develop the mutimodal logistics parks under its logistics Efficiency Enhancement Programme (lEEP). Speaking on this occasion, Gadkari said that it is an important agreement for the development of an integrated, multi-modal transport infrastructure in the country.
According to the study these initiatives are expected to reduce India's logistics costs and bring them closer to the accepted global benchmarks from the current high levels of 13-14 per cent of GDP. The lEEP study by the ministry has identified key solution themes to improve the state of logistics in India that includes freight corridor upgradation, logistics park development, seamless interState movement and electronic toll collection systems.
The MMlPs will serve 50 per cent of the freight movements, enable 10 per cent reduction in transportation costs and 12 per cent cut in C02 emissions. For the MMlPs, land parcels have been identified and pre-feasibility studies initiated at six of these locations. "The parks will be developed jointly by the NHAI, the National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCl), other para-statals and the respective state governments," Gadkari said.