Work on the Rs 350-crore multi-modal logistics park of Container Corporation of India at Visakhapatnam is on track and is likely to be completed within two and half years.

This is one of the six such projects started by the State-owned container rail operator in the first phase of its Rs 6,000-crore programme that envisaging setting up of a network of 15 logistics parks across the country.

land acquisition “We could start work on the first six of these parks as we got the required lands. We are in the process of land acquisition for the remaining nine parks, which would give a significant boost to exim trade,” V. Kalyana Rama, Executive Director of Container Corporation of India, told media persons on the sidelines of a CII summit here today.

Concor, which operates a logistics park spread over 250 acres and with a capacity to handle three lakh TEUs at Dadri, aims at setting up the chain of 15 parks within the current Five Year Plan.

completion It is executing the project through joint ventures with private companies, including shipping liners and container operators.

Kalyanarama said each of these parks would need a land of over 100 acres and would have complete container-related supply chain requirements, including inland container depots, warehouses, handling facilities and a private freight terminal.

The firm has so far spent Rs 750 crore on these projects.

Volume growth The company expects a 10-15 per cent growth in container volumes this fiscal against a flat growth last year.

“Last fiscal we handled about three lakh TEUs and, in line with current trends, we see a growth of 10-15 per cent this year. But exports are more than imports, with the gap being about 30 per cent,” he pointed out.

Plans for AP In Andhra Pradesh, Concor has five inland container depots, including two in Hyderabad, with plans to start at least two more at Krishnapatnam and Karimnagar.

>amitmitra@thehindu.co.in