Category Archives: Rail/Road

The Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) is finishing up with their Multimodal Logistics Park within the Kadakola industrial area at Mysuru. The facility consists of an independent goods train terminal a designated rail line for effective transport of goods within the park. Currently the building finishing works and signalling works are in progress. The logistics park is expected to assist in elimination of big obstacles to export from the area, such as the absence of nearby airport/seaport. Operations at the park are expected to commence from December, 2023.

Geodis has expanded its network in Asia with strategic investments in its capabilities and digital and physical infrastructure in the region. The company has expanded its road network from Southeast Asia (SEA) to China – solidifying its position as a leader in providing secure day-definite, cost-efficient, and environmentally-friendly solutions connecting Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. The road network features advanced IoT technology and equipment for transporting goods securely for the High Tech, Semiconductor, Automotive, Engineering, Retail, and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors. Investments have also been made to increase service frequency and to enhance its capabilities with dedicated customs brokerage and trade compliance teams at major border crossings to facilitate the seamless movement of goods. The Road Network integrates with major air and seaports to offer customers a variety of multimodal options to meet the challenges of today’s fast-moving environment and their need for agile and flexible supply chains. The road network to Shenzhen will be extended to Hong Kong, and in the near future to Indonesia, connected by an inter-modal road-sea service.

LP Logiscience, the warehousing and contract logistic arm of Liladhar Pasoo group, inaugurated a state of the art, Grade A, green warehouse in Bhiwandi, Mumbai. Spread over a private campus of 15 acers, with 5 Lakh sq.ft. of storage space, equivalent to 30,000 pallet positions, this is one of the largest 3PL multi-client facilities in India, and is equipped with the best in industry standards of fire and safety compliance. The warehouse is also equipped with infrastructure for sustainable resource management, and can generate up to 500KW of solar power, and store up to 4.5Lakh liters of water through rain water harvesting and operates EV and CNG vehicles for green distribution. Varun Gada, Director, LP Logiscience, said, “This has been a passion project and, the way I see it, also the future for state of the art, storage solutions. I am extremely honored to have the support of an extremely talented team of expert vendors, especially our warehouse developers, who made this possible within the timelines and for the faith and trust that our clients put in us. We are committed to providing value-added, customized solutions that are executed in a manner compliant with the highest industry standards of safety. We are also committed to driving efficiency by leveraging the best in tech innovation, while also creating sustainable and green warehouses to help our customers achieve their carbon emission goals. This facility in Bhiwandi is one big step in the direction. Apart from solar power and rainwater harvesting for the warehouse, we also aim to impact the local community and share the surplus power to meet the requirement of our immediate neighborhood. In the coming months, we also aim to …

In a bid to generate more revenue through freight transportation, the South Central Railway (SCR) has decided to develop a new Gati Shakti Multi Modal Cargo Terminal (GCT) Gadchandur railway station (at Secunderabad Division.) As per information, the new terminal will be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 15,2 crore at Gadchandur railway station. The development work will be carried out by M/s Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited, which secured the tender issued by the zonal railway, said report. Under the contract, which has been signed for a period of 35 years, the construction and maintenance of the terminal will be performed by M/s Dalmia Cement Bharat Limited, Chandrapur. No terminal fees will be assessed on cargo for which the GCTO himself is the consignor or consignee. The railways will be responsible for paying all operational and maintenance costs associated with a variety of assets, including overhead equipment, signal, track, and communication charges, added reports. The latest signed contract also includes the installation of an additional rail line, building a covered shed, laying concrete, installing a Hamali lavatory, building an electronic in-motion weighbridge, building an approach road, and setting up a water supply. Additionally, electrification of additional tracks and the installation of FOIS and TMS will also take place as part of the project.

The Indian Railways has achieved the yearly milestone in freight transportation by crossing the 1,000 million tons (MT) mark in this fiscal, said an official statement. Till date, the railways has loaded 1,002 MT of freight in the current fiscal. Earlier, this milestone was achieved on December 24, 2021, and as on December 6, 2021, the railways had achieved a freight loading of 926.4 MT. During this financial year, the national transporter has registered an incremental loading of 76.3 MT with growth rate of 8.25 per cent. “In revenue terms, the railways freight revenues stood close to Rs 1,08,593 crore in the current year vis-a-vis Rs 93,532 crore during last year till December 6, thus showing an improvement of 16.10 per cent,” the statement added.”

The Ministry of Railways will roll out projects worth Rs. 90,000 crore in the months ahead to remove bottlenecks in the movement of freight, said Union minister for railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw at the 17th Foundation Day of Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCC). “Till now, we have identified projects worth Rs. 90,000 crore, or $10 billion, to remove all potential bottlenecks in the movement of freight. Some of these are small projects, some are bigger in scale. The projects will be sanctioned in the coming months, and will help us realise the aspiration of loading 3,000 million tonnes (mt) of goods,” Vaishnaw said. At the start of the financial year, the ministry had rolled out a Rs 1.5-trillion procurement plan to augment railway performance. “The prime minister sincerely believes that the only way to transform the Indian economy is to transform Indian Railways. This shows that the support for railways is foremost in the minds of the top leadership of this country,” the railways minister said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the much-awaited National Logistics Policy (NLP) in the national capital on September 17 which, he said, was an important step towards the ‘making of a developed India,’ while adding that the policy has come with a ‘new energy for every sector.’ In his address, PM Modi said, “In the Amrit Kaal, the country has taken an important step towards the making of a developed India. The echo of ‘Make in India’ and ‘India becoming self-reliant’ is everywhere. India is setting big export targets and is also fulfilling them. India is emerging as a manufacturing hub. In such a situation, the National Logistics Policy has brought new energy for all sectors.” The NLP also aims at enhancing competitiveness and seamless movement of goods. At the grand event, Modi also focused on setting up Multimodal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), developing infrastructure and enhancing multimodal connectivity. “The government, both at centre and state, would prepare a master plan for logistics that will cover projects planned by different ministries to ensure multi-modality, optimal modal mix and addressing first and last mile connectivity. The policy also makes way for a framework to set up Multi-modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), which will be adopted by states and central ministries. This aims at seamless integration of various modes of transport. A framework will also be put in place for accelerated development of warehousing, which will address key aspects, such as standards, benchmarking and rating, and adoption of technology enabled solutions.”

An MoU has been signed between National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML), Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) for the development of multimodal logistics parks in the presence of Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Cabinet Minister of AYUSH and General VK Singh, Union MoS and Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways. “The Government of India approved the development of 35 multimodal logistics parks under Bharatmala Pariyojana to centralise freight consolidation and reduce logistics cost,” Gadkari said. “Providing seamless modal shift, MMLPs will ensure that cargo is swapped/shifted from and to waterways, dedicated freight corridors and road transport,” he added.

Indian Railways has strengthened trade and commerce in Telangana with the commencement of freight operations. First freighter train arrived at Medak Railway Station on the newly commissioned Akanapet-Medak line. This will enable local traders to ferry their goods across the country. “Marking commencement of freight operations, the first goods train arrived at Medak on the newly commissioned railway line. This will enable local traders transport localgoods across the country,” announced G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Culture, Tourism And Development Of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Government of India on Twitter.

To facilitate seamless logistic movement of Goods and Parcel service, Department of Posts in collaboration with Indian Railways has developed a customized Logistics solution for e-commerce players and MSMEs called Express Cargo Service. While Veena R. Srinivas, Chief Postmaster General, Maharashtra Circle briefed regarding the new initiatives of Department of Post and the prospects of logistics in Maharashtra Circle, G V L Satya Kumar, DRM, Western Railways discussed about the extension of collaboration throughout Maharashtra and beyond and Amitabh Singh, Postmaster General (Mails & BD), briefed about the operational details of Express Cargo Service. The first consignment of Express Cargo Service was despatched from Mumbai Central Railway Station through Gujarat Express. The launch of this product will be beneficial for timely delivery of goods and cargo from the industrial hubs located in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Surat, Vadodara, and Ahmedabad Region.