Capacity in Kerala's freight station to be raised

Inkel Ltd., along with AP Moller-Maersk Terminals (APMT), is gearing up to increase the operational capacity of its state-of-the-art container freight station (CFS) at Vallarpadam, near here, from the present current 500 TEUs (thousand-feet equivalent units) per day.

The CFS, set up by Inkel through a special purpose vehicle under the name MIV Logistics Pvt. Ltd., has emerged as one of the busiest freight stations in the state.

Inkel managing director T. Balakrishnan said the station has container traffic of nearly 400 trucks per day and they expect it to rise by another 20 to 30 percent in the next one year.

The freight station is the biggest of its kind in Kerala with more than six lakh square feet heavy-duty precast concrete tile paved yard for container storage.

"The facility has more than 62,000 square feet of warehousing and storage space suitable for various types of cargo handling. Tonnage wise, it can accommodate more than 10,000 tonnes of material," he said.

Currently, the Rs.75 crore freight station is being operated and maintained by APMT on a revenue-sharing model with Inkel.

The tie-up was a land mark achievement as after a long time, a multinational was willing to associate with a company based in Kerala.