A dry port is an inland terminal that is meant to provide connectivity to a sea port by rail or road, thus serving as a trans-shipping hub for sea cargo. An exporter can complete all customs formalities at the dry dock, saving time and cost.
“Logistics has been the backbone of industrial development. The State government is working on developing a dry port in the northern corridor of the state. The modalities are being worked out and this will be developed in public-private partnership mode,” says a senior official of the Telangana Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TGIIC).
The government is exploring the feasibility of setting up a few more dry ports to step up exports. Currently, exports from Telangana are routed through ports in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
The idea for a major dry port in Telangana is not new. In July 2021 the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharata Rastra Samithi (BRS), formerly Telangana Rashtra Samithi, government approved a proposal to set up a 1,400-acre multi-modal logistics park near Nalgonda on a public-private-partnership basis.
It decided to set up two integrated container depots (ICDs) — on the lines of the Concor ICD at Sanathnagar — in Hyderabad, in collaboration with the Customs department, to promote exports.
The Cabinet had also approved a proposal to set up 10 additional integrated logistics parks across the State. However, none of these projects, including the dry port, have taken off.
The current Congress government, under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, plans to fast-track the dry port project.
Given Telangana’s industrial strengths — especially in pharmaceuticals, food processing, textiles, and defence and aerospace — a well-developed logistics infrastructure is a vital need. According to government data, the State’s logistics sector is growing annually at 12 per cent. Upcoming industrial corridors are expected to further boost demand.