The Container Corporation of India (Concor) has taken up work on the multi-modal logistics park being built here at a cost of Rs 370 crore and the commericial operations in the first phase may begin by the end of March or April, according to R. Dhananjayulu, Group General Manager.
He was speaking here on Monday after participating in a medical camp jointly organised by the Concor and Mahavir International on the premises of the container freight station (CFS) of the Concor. He said the logistics park was being built on 98 acres taken on lease from the Visakhapatnam Port Trust for a period of three decades. "We are developing 10 acres of the land immediately and the commerical operations there may begin by the end of March or April. By June, the bonded warehouse with 50,000 sq.ft may also be ready. It is a major project and we will gradually scale it up. It may be completed in two years or so. After completion, it will have the capacity of handling 10,000 TEUs a month and it can be doubled if necessary. We are building up the necessary infrastructure," he explained.
He said the Concor had sent a detailed project report to the East Coast Railway for building the rail siding at the logistics park and approval was awaited. He said the Concor was bearing the entire cost of the project out of internal accruals.
He said the Concor CFS here was handling 2,000 containers a month. The Concor was upgrading the CFS at Guntur at a cost of Rs 16 crore and it had proposed to set up a logistics park similar to the Vizag one at Krishnapatnam port. "It is still in the initial stage and we have sent the proposal to the State Government. We need 130 acres of land at Krishnapatnam for the park, of which 80 acres is Government-owned. We are expecting a positive response from the Government," he added.
He said Concor had also built a CFS near Patancheruvu in Hyderabad for domestic containers on a 16-acre plot.
Ashok Jain, Chairman of Mahavir International, New Delhi, spoke of the free medical camps being organised by his organisation in partnership with the Concor as a part of the latter's CSR activities.
G.R Seshagiri Rao, senior general manager, Visakhapatnam, also spoke.