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 are in the states of Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana. The parks would be spread over a total area of around 4,800 acres and will be built under the first phase of the ministry’s Logistics Efficiency Enhancement Programme (LEEP).

“Last year airlines safely transported 52.2 million tonnes of cargo worth around $6 trillion. We have supported some $2.7 trillion in economic activity and 63 million jobs,” said Tony Tyler, Director General and CEO, IATA. Globally, cargo markets showed a 2.3 per cent expansion in freight and mail tonne kilometres (FTKs). This outstripped a capacity increase of 5.8 per cent decreasing freight load factor by 1.6 per cent pp. The top five airlines ranked by total freight tonnes carried on scheduled services were: FedEx Express (7.1 million) United Parcel Service (4.5 million) Emirates Airline (2.5 million) Cathay Pacific Airways (1.6 million) Korean Air (1.5 million)