Gadkari lays foundation stone of first multi-modal logistic park in Assam

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of the Rs 694 crore multi-modal logistic park in Assam and said that it would serve as the growth engine for the state's economic development.

The work on the first phase of the Rs 694 crore project at Jogighopa on 317-acre land will begin next month by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) and will be completed by 2023, the Road Transport, Highways and MSME Minister said.

"This multi-modal park will serve as a growth engine for Assam's economic development. It would provide direct and indirect employment to about 20 lakh people," Gadkari said laying the virtual foundation stone of the project under Bharatmala Pariyojna.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal presided over the virtual function, which was attended by Union Ministers Jitendra Singh, V K Singh and Rameshwar Teli among others including MPs and officials from the state and central government.

Gadkari said his Ministry has envisaged developing 35 Multi-modal Logistic Parks (MMLPs) in the country and work on preparing DPR (detailed project report) and feasibility report is underway.

He said, Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) will be formed for all these MMLPs, and professionally qualified CEOs will be appointed for each separately.

Gadkari said works worth Rs 280 crore for the MMLP project along Brahmaputra have already been awarded, including Rs 171 crore for road construction, Rs 87 crore for erecting the structure, and Rs 23 crore for rail lines.

The park will be connected to air, road, rail and waterways.

The Minister said that the distance of 154 km between Jogighopa and Guwahati will be covered by making a 4-lane road on this stretch, a 3-km rail line will connect Jogighopa station to the MMLP, another 3-km rail link will connect it to the inland water terminal, and the road to newly developed Rupsi airport will be upgraded to 4-lanes for easier connectivity.

He said, the MMLP will have all the facilities like, warehouse, railway siding, cold storage, custom clearance house, yard facility, workshops, petrol pumps, truck parking, administrative building, boarding lodging, eating joints, water treatment plant, etc.

Gadkari informed that the initial report and master plan is ready for the 346-acre MMLP with Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Wardha Dry port area of Nagpur.

A feasibility report is 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, he said.

The Minister further informed that his Ministry has plans for National Highway works worth Rs 80,000 crore in Assam. He said, NH works for 575 km worth Rs 3,545 crore are going to be completed within this financial year.

NH works of nearly Rs 15,000 crore will be awarded by next year, while DPRs will be completed for works of Rs 21,000 crore for the State.

He said, under the Central Road Fund (CRF) scheme, 203 km NH length at a cost of Rs 610 crore has been approved for 2020-21.

The Minister also announced clearing of a number of road proposals from different MPs and MLAs for the State.

Gadkari also informed that a total of 12 accident black spots have been identified on National Highways in Assam, of which three have been temporarily improved.

He said, all the black spots will be eradicated by the year 2023.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh lauded Gadkari and said it is his innovative and mega projects that the North East has emerged as a model of development in the country.