New Delhi: In a significant development, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) on Friday awarded the first multi modal logistics park (MMLP), Chennai project to Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) under public private partnership (PPP) mode. The foundation stone for it was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 26 this year.
The project is estimated to cost ₹1424 crore to the RIL. The project is being developed at Mappedu (Thiruvallur district), Tamil Nadu, on 184.27 acre area. The site is located about 52 km from Chennai port, 80 km from Ennore port and 87 km from Kattupalli port and 44 km from Chennai airport.
This is to be noted that an MMLP is being developed by the ministry at Jogighopa (Assam). But the MMLP Chennai is the first MMLP project of MoRTH, which has been awarded on PPP basis, under the Bharatmala Pariyojana.
The Chennai MMLP will be developed in three phases and target completion of phase-1 is by 2025, leading to start of commercial operation. The project will be implemented through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed amongst National Highways Logistics Management Limited, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, Chennai Port Authority & Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation.
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As an outcome of Logistics Efficiency Enhancement Programme study (LEEP), MoRTH in partnership with other line ministries and state governments is developing MMLPs at 35 strategic locations across the country under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. MMLP is a key solution theme for lowering the logistics cost as percentage of GDP at par with developed counties.
MMLP is an integrated facility within which all activities relating to logistics and the distribution of goods, both for national and international transit can be carried out across multiple modes of transport. MMLPs lower transportation cost by enabling a seamless modal shift to rail and vice versa, lower handling costs due to presence of best in class modern and mechanized handling infrastructure, reduce secondary freight costs by co-location of large warehouses and value-added services. MMLPs also benefit from economies of scale, by creating shared infrastructure and due to availability of more options for selection of competitive and reliable logistics providers.
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Chennai is called the ‘Detroit of Asia’ due to rich automobile ecosystem and high-quality workforce. It is also the second largest electronic hardware manufacturing base and is nodal point for supply chain and logistics in the south.
The MMLP is being provided with four-lane national highway (NH) access to nearby arterial road at a cost of ₹104 crore. For multi modal connectivity, the MMLP will have a new rail siding of length about 11 Km from Kadambattur Railway station to the MMLP site with estimated cost of ₹217 crore.
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The Chennai MMLP will cater to about 7.17 million metric tonne (MMT) cargo in the horizon period of 45 years and will give huge boost to the industrial zones in the catchment region such as Sriperumbudur, Irrungattukottai, Gummipoondi, Oragadam and Chennai.
