India to develop 11 multi-modal logistics parks in Bharatmala Phase-II

New Delhi, India (Urban Transport News): Under Bharatmala Phase-I, the Government of India has already announced for setting of 35 multi-modal logistics parks at various locations of the Country. Out of theme, the first ones will come up in Nagpur (Maharashtra), Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and Bengaluru (Karnataka). According to the plan, the first two in Nagpur and Chennai will be ready by 2024-end.

The multi-modal logistics parks focuses on optimising efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through effective interventions such as economic corridors and multi-modal integration through roadways, logistic parks, ports, and ropeways among others.

Under the second phase, the government has identified 11 locations across the country to set up multi-modal logistics parks, taking the total number of such facilities in the country to 53. These locations are Udaipur (Tripura), Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Siliguri (West Bengal), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Haridwar (Uttarakhand), Bikaner (Rajasthan), Dighi (Maharashtra), Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), and Bidkin (Maharashtra).

Through the 35 multi-modal logistics parks planned in the first phase, the government aims to reduce logistic costs from the current 14-16% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to about 9%. It also hopes to create two lakh jobs with this as mega logistic parks are likely to trigger creation of manufacturing or assembling clusters around these facilities, while massively cutting freight transportation costs and time.

The multi-modal logistics parks will be built under public-private partnership (PPP) model. The government will provide the land and water, electricity, road and railways connectivity to each such park, said the official.

"One multi-modal logistics park will be run by one private operator, who will be concessioned for 45 years during which the entire park will have to be operated and maintained. In two years, the concessionaire will have to complete phase-1 of the project, which is if he is investing ₹900 crore, then minimum ₹300 crore (30%) will have to be invested in the first two years for the development of the park,” said sources. said.

Since logistic parks in every state will involve multiple stakeholders, for every multi-modal logistics park, the government has decided, there will be a special purpose vehicle (SPV) having members from the private operators, the concerned state port authority, roadways, railways, electricity, power utilities and so on. If a state has more than one multi-modal logistics park, then the SPV can be the same.