The road ministry has shortlisted locations in Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and TelanganaNew Delhi: The road ministry has shortlisted 15 locations with the highest freight movement for the development of multimodal logistics parks worth Rs.32,853 crore. The locations shortlisted are—Delhi NCR (Delhi, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida); Mumbai (Mumbai, Mumbai suburbs, JNPT, Mumbai ports, Raigad district); north Gujarat (Ahmedabad and Vadodara); south Gujarat (Surat and Bharuch); Hyderabad; north Punjab (Amritsar, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur); south Punjab (Ludhiana, Sangrur, Patiala); Jaipur; Kandla; Bangalore; Pune; Vijayawada; Cochin; Chennai and Nagpur. The parks are expected to serve four key functions: freight aggregation and distribution, multimodal freight movement, storage and warehousing, and value-added services such as custom clearances. Through the programme, the government is trying to improve efficiency and reduce logistics costs by as much as 10%. Logistics costs as a percentage of total value of goods stood at 13-14%, compared with 7-8% in developed nations, the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development said in its report on freight logistics and intermodal transportation.

Source: Mint June 27, 2016 19:41 UTC