Background

Punjab Logistics Infrastructure Limited (hereinafter referred to as “PLIL”) is a joint venture company of Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR), a Central Public Sector Undertaking of Ministry of Railways, and Punjab State Container and Warehousing Corporation Limited (CONWARE),a wholly owned subsidiary of Punjab State Government, which worked together for setting up a Multi Modal Logistic Park (MMLP) near Mandi Ahmedgarh.

The facility is being step up in phased manner in a wide area of 150 acres acquired in district Ludhiana (Village Ghungrana, Khera and Lehra) based on the existing and projected containerized and bulk cargo traffic. The land has been acquired as the per Gazette notification no. S.O. 70/C.A.1/1894/S.4/2013 dated 23rd August, 2013. The rationale of the project and its location is based on the following:

• The Hinterland is rich in agri-produce, and therefore, huge requirement of storing and transportation facilities.
• Punjab state being a large production and consumption center requires a transportation/warehousing facility with dedicated pre-processing and distribution zone to cut down logistics costs and make its industry competitive.
• Requirement of custom facilitation point for the Industrial Estates / SEZs in the area, more so considering the Most Favored Nation (MFN) status granted to India by Pakistan, necessitating availability of such integrated logistics hub.
• The imminent introduction of the GST Regime:
  o likely to popularize concept of Regional Stockyards
  o generate demand for general & special purpose warehouses

Last but not the least, to harness the potential of development of the Dedicated Freight Corridors which will effectively connect Ludhiana and the State to all the gateway ports of the country in the West, and the iron-ore/coal rich mineral belt in the East.

The MMLP targets to provide a wide range of logistics services like integrated and accessible by multiple modes (rail, road, maritime, air) comprising container terminals, bulk/break- bulk cargo terminals, warehouses, 3rd Party Logistics players, Inland Container Depots (ICD) / Container Freight Stations(CFS), banking, packaging, office space and facilities for parking, mechanized handling, inter-modal transfers, sorting/grading, cold chain, aggregation/disaggregation to handle domestic and EXIM freight.

The key components of MMLP are listed below:

• Rail Tracks
• Container Yards
• Transit Warehouse for Export Cargo
• De-Stuffing / Stuffing / Consolidation Area for EXIM Cargo
• Customs Bonded Warehouse for Import Cargo
• Rail-side Warehouse
• Domestic Warehouses
• Cold Storage
• Administrative Building
• Parking Area
• Repair Area
• Silos

The 1st phase construction has completed and the balance is under construction.

PROJECT KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• MMLP will capture 30% of EXIM traffic and 15% domestic traffic in the area by 2030
• Proximity to major production centers in Punjab (Ludhiana, Mohali, Nawashahar, Patiala, Bathinda, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur etc.) which contribute to more than 85% of the total state production.
• Strategically placed on the feeder route to Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), enabling double stack container terminal to and from the gateway port upto Rewari, possibility of extension of the DFC up to facility.
• Key industries in the region are suitable for containerized traffic viz. yarns and textiles, readymade garments and hosiery, bicycle and bicycle parts, auto industry, hand tools, machine tools, sports goods etc.
• Identified hub for development of food grain silos by Food Corporation of India (FCI)

Ludhiana is ranked amongst the top cities of India in terms of ease of doing business.

The MMLP will act as a stimulus to industry development of Punjab. Following benefits are likely to accrue:

• Accelerated Industrial Development and better global access to the available industries
• Availability of world class logistic infrastructure resulting in:
• Reduction in Logistics Cost – all services at same place
• Warehouses / Stockyard for industry for pre-processing and distribution, and hence derive maximum benefit of GST
• Increased Private Investment
• Fillip to the local ancillary industries
• Exports from the region will become competitive
• Improvement of the Socio-economic condition of the state at large
• Will give fillip to development of related ancillary infrastructure
• Accessibility to the proposed Dedicated Freight Corridor projects (both Western and Eastern corridors)
• Make Punjab the Preferred Investment Destination in the North
• Last but not the least, creation of direct and indirect employment. Considering the scale of proposed MMLP, it aims to provide employment to about 1,029 organized labour, 2,200 transport labour, 700 private labour, and 500 surveyors – i.e. around 4,500 indirect employees. Apart from this, such facility provides indirect employment through creation of demand for restaurants / food courts, road construction, residential construction, nearby petrol pumps, car / motorbike service, and many other services.

CONNECTIVITY OF THE MMLP

ROAD: The site is Located off the SH-11 which is 1.7 km and 20 kms from NH-1, thereby, providing easy connectivity to road.

RAIL: It is on a feeder route to western dedicated freight corridor.

Ports :Key ports catering to the EXIM requirement of the MMLP include JNPT, Mundra Port, Pipavav Port, Kandla Port .

FLAGGING OF FIRST TRAIN RUN AND START OF BUSINESS OPERATIONS

The work related to phase-I has completed and domestic commercial activity has already started its business operations. The terminal has been commercially notified by Railways as Private Freight Terminals for starting the commercial activities on 2nd March, 2017. “Flagging of First Train run” was done by General Manager /Northern Railways along with CMD/CONCOR on 3rd March, 2017. The business operations have started from 5th April, 2017.