Badal and Prabhu to lay foundation for logistics hub in Punjab

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu will jointly lay the foundation stone of the Multi Modal Logistics Hub (MMLH) at Kila Raipur in Ludhiana on January 20.

The project will be constructed at Rs 500 crore and likely to prove to be a game-changer for industries in the state. Badal said being near to Ludhiana, MMLH would provide linkage to the Eastern Freight Corridor. He also said the Ludhiana-Dhuri-Jakhal feeder line will join it with the Western Corridor at Rewari, reducing transportation cost of the raw material and finished goods through railways.

Badal said it was important because according to the Foreign Trade Act, 1992, only MMLH could handle export-import (EXIM) cargoes. He also said it would have a storage facility on the railhead for steel, fertiliser, cement and others, which would cut down logistics cost.

"MMLH will be equipped with the modern facilities, such as container handling yard, bulk handling yard, railside warehousing, multi-user warehousing, temperature-controlled warehousing, truck terminus and others, which will boost the trade and commerce in the region" said Badal.

The chief minister further said currently EXIM traffic of Punjab was 400,000 containers. He said after the completion of the first phase by March 2016, the project would capture EXIM traffic generated in the area and the projected traffic would be 750,000 containers by 2035. Badal said the double-decker carriage, to be initiated from MMLH, would ensure 33 per cent reduction in the inland transportation cost.

Rawat further said besides giving fillip to the trade and commerce, the project would provide a direct employment to about 500 people. He said indirect employment would be provided to about 2,000 transporters, 1,500 private labour and 500 third party surveyors.