Punjab airport to export perishables

Rajasansi airport's cargo terminal has been given custodianship by the customs authorities

By the end of this month or in the first week of June, fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, poultry and meat products, and other perishable and non-perishable goods from Punjab and other neighbouring states may be exported from the Rajasansi Airport, the only international airport in Punjab, to Europe and West Asia.

The cargo terminal at the airport has been given custodianship by the customs authorities.

Once operations start, this airport can emerge as a major cargo hub in the North. Currently, exports take place through Delhi airport. Also, this will prove beneficial in meeting deadlines for overseas promotion and also it will lead to the development of Amritsar as an important hub for the movement of export and import cargo.

The cargo terminal at Amritsar Airport can handle 1400 metric tonnes of non perishable goods per day.

The cargo terminal was built three years ago with a project cost of Rs 7 crore, but it was waiting for the custodian so as the cold storage facility which has the capacity to handle 120 metric tonnes of fresh vegetables or fruits per day and has been built at Rs 1.5 crore for handling the export of perishable cargo.

Talking to Business Standard, Airport Director, V S Mulekar, said," Once it starts, it can facilitate a large number of Indian and foreign companies that had been exploring the opportunity to export perishable agricultural produce to Europe and the Middle East, as the export potential from this region has huge potential."

Moreover, according to the feasibility report prepared by the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation and the Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA), there is an export potential of Rs 100 crore per day. Also, with corporate giants like Reliance and Bharti are entering into agro-processing and eyeing exports to West Asia and Europe, the export potential is immense.

According to Assistant Cargo Manager, A S Nugyal," Already, Jet Airways, Singapore Airlines, Air India and Afghan Arayna has shown their interest for starting their cargo operation."

He also told that in case of this airport, the TSP(terminal storage and processing) charges for cold storage is 0.70 paise per Kg while in case of Metropolitan airport like Delhi it is Rs. 2.43 per kg, so exporting perishable goods from this airport would be more economical for exporters."

But Mulekar said the cargo terminal lacked space. "Keeping in view the number of big corporate giants entering the agro-processing sector in Punjab like Bharti, Reliance, and ITC, there is an urgent need to double the capacity. There is great potential for agricultural exports due to change in agricultural policy by the Punjab government like switching from paddy to contract farming."