NEW DELHI: With an aim to boost “logistics efficiency”, the Centre is looking at developing economic corridors and also planning to come up with logistic parks on national highways, Parliament was informed on Monday.
“Ministry of Road Transport and Highways got a study conducted on logistics efficiency enhancement. The report has made several recommendations including, inter alia, development of economic corridors, feeder routes and removal of choke points, along with development of logistics parks on national highways,” Minister of State for Highways Mansukh Lal Mandavia told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply on Monday.
He said the recommendations have been accepted and the work of developing logistics parks at identified locations in partnership with state governments has been entrusted to National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). According to information, the plan is to develop Rs 3-lakh crore Economic Corridor project to develop 35,000 kms of highways for faster movement of freight. The project is aimed at faster movement of cargo and would not only developing economic corridors with a length of about 21,000 kms but also developing 14,000 kms of feeder routes, i.e. providing connectivity to logistic hubs, an official has said earlier. “A rough estimate suggests about Rs 3 lakh crore on the project and the scheme is being finalised,” he said. The economic corridors include Mumbai-Cochin-Kanyakumari, Bangalore-Mangalore, Hyderabad-Panji and Sambalpur-Ranchi to name a few. The official said the project would be taken into phases and awarded under various modes that include build, operate, transfer (BOT) toll mode and the newer hybrid annuity mode (HAM) under which the while the government provides 40 per cent of the project cost the developer has to arrange for remaining 60 per cent. Once completed the economic corridors would reduce the travel time and result in reduction in logistics costs. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has been stressing on the need for reducing logistics cost in the country from the present 18 per cent.—PTI
