Adani Ports and SEZ, JM Baxi Group company and a joint venture of SKN Terminal Haryana City Gas are among companies that have submitted bids to invest in land to operate private freight terminals or multimodal logistics parks along Indian Railways’ dedicated freight corridor.
According to multiple sources, they have submitted bids for 14 stations. These include nine locations along the Western Corridor and four along the Eastern corridor. The locations for which Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL) received bids are New Dadri, New Ateli, New Sanjali, New Phulera, New Bhagega, New Kishangarh, New Dharuheda, New Kanpur, New Muzaffarnagar, New Palghar, New Bhimsen, New Chawapail, New Gothamgam and New Gholvad.
“These set of places will emerge as the growth centers,” said a source. The Railways will help build rail connectivity to these locations.
DFCCIL had invited bids from companies that could own and operate private freight terminals (PFTs) near stations to garner more cargo to its network.
Private firms
The successful bidders from these companies will get permission from private firms to develop and manage terminals on their own land located near DFC railway stations, which will be linked by rail. DFCCIL also has its own land parcels near the track which it plans to develop later.
Apart from the above, companies that participated in pre-bid meeting included DP World, Shree Cement, Allcargo Logistics, PSA International, APM Terminals, Concor, CMA-CGM, TVS Logistics, Gateway Rail Freight, Hind Terminals, Central Warehousing Corporation, Pipavav Rail Corporation, Gopalpur Ports, Kalpataru Power Transmission, Inland Road Logistics, Aman Warehousing, Bothra Group, Pristine Logistics and Jindal Rail.
The company that wins the right to operate a terminal on its own or leased land will book cargo for all customers who want to load and unload cargo from that station for 30 years. For the first 10 years, the operator will have an exclusive right to handle goods at a given station, after which other users can be allowed to manage goods, too.
As revenue, the PFT operator can get handling charges as decided by the Indian Railways and other various value-added services from its users.
Concerns remain
Companies eyeing PFTs, though, have concerns on the duration and extent of exclusivity that will be maintained, as there could be other goods-booking facilities — such as those connected to a nearby track of Indian Railways.
In another move, DFCCIL has invited bids to run roll-on-roll-on services — between New Palanpur and New Rewari — allowing heavy, loaded trucks to move between these two points.