24-10-2020 | 11:11 AM
Jogighopa Multimodal Logistics Park, Assam: India’s 1stmulti-modal logistics park
Context
On October 20, the foundation stone for the first ever multi-modal logistic park in Assam was virtually laid by Shri Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways.
Key Highlights
In order to facilitate foreign trade with neighbouring countries, the Centre has proposed the development of a Multi-Modal Logistics Park at Jogighopa in Bongaigaon district of Assam.
The objective of the park is to reduce logistics costs and improve the efficiency of transport of goods and commodities.
The estimated budget of this multi-modal logistics park is ₹ Rs 693.97 crore.
This multi-modal logistic park will be developed under the ambitious Bharatmala Pariyojna of the Government of India and it will provide people with direct connectivity through air, road, rail and waterways.
Jogighopa is expected to become the gateway to South-East Asia for India, as well as the rest of the North-East with the multi-modal logistics park.
Bharatmala Pariyojna
Bharatmala Pariyojana is a new umbrella program for the highways sector which focuses on optimizing efficiency of passenger and freight movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure gaps through effective interventions such as development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes, National Corridor Efficiency Improvement, Border and International connectivity roads, Coastal and Port connectivity roads and Green-field expressways. The Bharatmala Pariyojana was announced in 2017 by India's Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Mr. Nitin Gadkari. With a view to improving connectivity in the country by 2022, the project was launched. The budget for the scheme is managed by the cess collected on petrol and diesel and the tax collected at toll booths. Bharatmala Pariyojana also gets budgetary support by the Government. The key components of the Bharatmala pariyojna are:
Economic corridor construction of approximately 9000 Kms.
6000 kilometres of inter-corridor & feeder roads.
Improving the efficiency of 5000 kilometres of National Corridors.
2000 kilometres of Border & International Connectivity Roads.
Expressways with the total length of 800 kms.
Coastal & port connectivity roads having length 2000 Kms.
Balance of National Highway Development Project (NHDP) works of length 10000 Kms
Features and objectives of Bharatmala Pariyojana
Improving road traffic and trade through road transportation.
To enhance the quality of roads in order to develop every corner of the country.
A notable feature of this Pariyojana is the development of new roads.
There are also certain challenges associated with the Bharatmala Pariyojna such as:
As per the report, because of the increased land cost the project is running far behind the set target of completion of project by 2022. Increased land cost has inturn increased the estimated budget for the project. So, it is another obstacle to get more funds for the project. Therefore, the Central Government is looking for more investments from the funds collected by the market and other private and international investment. The government also intends to auction the completed highway projects to meet the estimate.
