Cities such as Gorakhpur, Ranchi, Bikaner, Tuticorin, and Siliguri will also have Multi-Modal Logistic Parks (MMLPs) people aware of the matter said.
First such MMLP is currently being constructed in Assam’s Jogighopa while the work on two others in Nagpur and Chennai is likely to commence soon.
Under the PM Gati Shakti-National Master Plan for Multi-Modal Connectivity and the Bharatmala Pariyojana project aimed at expanding India’s infrastructure by creating more logistic and transport hubs and connecting them seamlessly, the government has plans to build 35 MMLPs across the nation.
Citied by the Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during her budget speech, the said projects aim to provide smoother and faster logistics transportation across the country through MMLPs.
The road transport and highways ministry last month floated a tender to rope in consultants to prepare pre-feasibility studies to build the parks in Tripura, Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu), Jodhpur (Rajasthan), Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Siliguri (West Bengal), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Haridwar (Uttarakhand), Bikaner (Rajasthan) and Dighi (Maharashtra).
Slated to be completed by next year, the construction of the first phase of MMLP at Jogighopa is six month behind the schedule and is now expected to completed by March 2024. Foundation stone for the park was laid in October 2020. The Assam government allocated ₹693.97 crore and 317-acre land along the Brahmaputra for the project last year. The MMLP will have direct air, road, waterways, and rail connectivity.
A National Highways Logistics Management Limited official disclosed that the upcoming MMLPs can be expected to come up by 2024 or late in Maharashtra’s Nagpur and Chennai in Tamil Nadu.
Locations identified last year for MMLPs in Patna (Bihar), Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), and Valsad (Gujarat) for the parks were found to be unsuitable because of space or connectivity issues.
The government is eyeing a more effective and swift data exchange in the sector. It has plans to rope the private sector into its Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) to reduce the costs by making systems more efficient and broad-based.
About 24 digital systems of six ministries are being integrated through ULIP. The government is looking to create a National Single Window Logistics Portal to help reduce the logistics costs with the involvement of the private sector.
