India to set up its first multimodal logistics park in Assam by 2023

October 22, 2020: Union minister for road transport, highways Nitin Gadkari laid the foundation stone for India’s first multi-modal logistic park at Jogighopa in Assam on Tuesday (October 20).

The ₹693.97 crore park, constructing in a 317-acre land along the Brahmaputra with direct air, road, rail and waterways connectivity will be developed by National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) under Bharatmala Pariyojana.

“The first phase of construction will be completed by 2023. Works worth ₹280 crore have already been awarded, including ₹171 crore for road construction, ₹87 crore for erecting the structure, and ₹23 crore for rail lines. The work will begin next month,” said the minister.

He also noted that this project will provide direct or indirect employment to nearly 20 lakh youth in the state.

Connectivity, facilities
Jogighopa will be connected to Guwahati with a 4-lane 154 km road, a 3-km rail line will connect Jogighopa station to the MMLP, a 3 km rail link will connect it to the inland water transport (IWT), and the road to newly developed Rupsi airport will be upgraded to 4-lanes for easier connectivity. The MMLP will have facilities like warehousing, railway siding, cold storage, customs clearance house, yard facility, workshops, petrol pumps, truck parking, administrative building, boarding lodging, eating joints and water treatment plant.

The minister further informed that his ministry has plans for national highway works worth ₹80,000 crore in Assam. NH works for 575 km worth ₹3,545 crore is going to be completed within this financial year. NH works of nearly ₹15,000 crore will be awarded by next year, while DPRs will be completed for works of ₹21,000 crore for the state. Under the CRIF scheme, 203 km NH length at a cost of ₹610 crore has been approved for 2020-21.

Laid the foundation stone of country's first multi-modal logistics park in Assam in the presence of CM Shri @sarbanandsonwal ji, MoS @Gen_VKSingh ji, MoS @DrJitendraSingh ji, MoS Shri Rameshwar Teli ji, MPs, MLAs and senior officials. #PragatiKaHigway pic.twitter.com/tCpayaBJ4t

— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) October 20, 2020

35 multimodal logistic parks
“The ministry envisages developing 35 multi-modal logistic parks (MMLPs) in the country, of which work on preparing DPR and feasibility report is underway. SPVs will be formed for all these MMLPs, and professionally qualified CEOs will be appointed for each separately,” the minister said.

The initial report and master plan is ready for the 346-acre MMLP with JNPT in Wardha dry port area of Nagpur. Feasibility reports are being prepared for the Bangalore MMLP, Sangrur warehouse complex in Punjab, Surat, Mumbai, Indore, Patna, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, and Coimbatore. DPR is being made for MMLP near Chennai port, and studies have begun for MMLP in Pune and Ludhiana.

Other 22 MMLPs are proposed in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Kandla, Vadodara, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jullundur, Bhatinda, Hissar, Ambala, Kota, Jaipur, Jagatsinghpur, Sundarnagar. Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Nashik, Panaji, Bhopal, Raipur, and Jammu.

MMLP Jogighopa Walkthrough