The Chhattisgarh Government is in the process of upgrading infrastructural facility to further accelerate Export-Import (EXIM) activity from its Inland Container Depot (ICD) located at Kapa in Raipur. The project cost of the proposed works within the ICD campus is Rs3.10 crore, officials stated. The project has been undertaken under ‘Developing Export Infrastructure & Allied Activities’ (ASIDE) scheme of the Central Government. Early this year, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had also put forward a proposal that a ‘Cargo Hub’ should be developed in Naya Raipur with a Container Depot in Chhattisgarh.
He said that his Ministry will bear the entire development cost if the Chhattisgarh Government agrees to provide land for the proposed hub. To this, Chief Minister Raman Singh who had met the Union Railway Minister in New Delhi had assured the latter that his Government will provide land for the project. It may also be recalled that in November last year, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation last year had approved construction of domestic cargo terminal in 24 airports of the country, including one at Raipur. Significantly, in 2014-15, Raipur Railway division coming under South East Central Railway (SECR) loaded 31.85 million tonnes of freight which is highest since the formation of its Raipur division.
During the past five years, Railway division has earned Rs11.78 crore from non conventional sources, officials said. A proposed Freight train with speed of maximum 100 kms per hour will also pass through Chhattisgarh in the East-West Corridor (Kolkata-Mumbai). The train will traverse through the States of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra as the Ministry of Railways has sanctioned implementation of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) and Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) with freight train speeds of maximum 100 Kmph.
Alignment for both WDFC & EDFC has been finalized. WDFC starts from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), Mumbai and passes through the States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and terminate at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. The total length of the Western DFC is about 1500 Kms. Notably, in the domain of Agriculture related exports, Tamarind and Maize of Bastar division is in high demand overseas as proved by exports which was to the tune of more than Rs100 crore last year, officials stated.
During the Kharif season last year, more than six lakh quintals of maize worth Rs 85 crore was exported from Bastar. Similarly 50,000 quintals of Tamarind worth Rs20 crore was exported last year. Significantly, the maize produced by Bastar is being exported to USA, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Vietnam while tamarind is being exported to Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Dubai. In the Kharif season the same year ( 2014-15), more than six lakh quintals of maize worth Rs85 crore was exported from Bastar division. Similarly 50,000 quintals of Tamarind worth Rs20 crore was exported to other countries.