CM Fadnavis breaks ground for Wardha dry port in Maharashtra

The upcoming dry port at Sindi in the Wardha district of Maharashtra will give a boost to the development of Vidarbha region, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Monday.

Logistics will be the biggest business in India in future and Nagpur, which is centrally located, will become a logistics hub, Fadnavis said, speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for the dry port at Sindi in the presence of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Dry port, also called inland port or multi-modal logistics centre, is an inland terminal connected to a seaport by rail or road.

"At one end is a port like JNPT (in Mumbai) which handles the highest container traffic (in the country), on the other end the logistics centre of Nagpur, and joining the two will be the Maharashtra government's Samrudhhi Corridor (Nagpur-Mumbai expressway) which will generate opportunities at the Wardha dry port," Fadnavis said.

The dry port at Sindi is being developed by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari said, "A container arriving in Mumbai can be transported to the Sindi dry port directly by rail, which will help traders save the money they spend on road transport.

"It will also enhance export capabilities of the region," the union minister for road transport, highways and shipping said.

Dry ports will also have cold storages and pre-cooling plants which would be beneficial for local farmers, Gadkari said.

"One of our primary objectives in setting up this facility was to provide employment to local youth," he noted.