Even as its ambitious dedicated freight corridor (DFC) project has almost come to a standstill, the railway ministry has begun full-fledged preparations on a related project?a multi modal logistics parks. An announcement to this effect this is alsoexpected in the Rail Budget next week.
To boost domestic trade and especially the transport share of the railways, the ministry has come up with a draft policy for logistics parks aimed primarily for special economic zones (SEZs), industrial townships and prospective developers of logistics parks. Some of the parks would also be developed by the railways along the DFC route, sources added.
Under the draft policy, the ministry proposes to have three types of multi-modal logistics parks?large parks set up on more than 300 acres, medium sized parks developed on 50-300 acres and small parks covering less than 50 acres.
While all three categories will generally have multi-user facilities, the small and medium sized parks could also be set up for handling dedicated needs of major rail freight owners.
The logistics parks will have a rail-based inter-modal traffic handling facility with container and cargo terminals, warehouses, banking and office space, and cold chain to handle freight operations. Facilities could however differ depending on the needs of the developer.
The parks will be built using the public private partnership route. The developer will however have the choice to build them on railway land or on private land adjoining railway stations, depending on his/her convenience. Zonal railway divisions have been given the task of identifying suitable land and also conducting feasibility studies for all such proposals.
The railways will also expect a traffic guarantee from the developer for a pre-determined period, which can later be extended. A rail bhawan official said, ?Our main objective is to increase our freight business and without a traffic commitment, the logistics parks would not really serve our interests.?
The developer will be responsible for arranging infrastructure facilities like roads, electricity, water, etc and can also outsource this. The railways on the other hand will provide rail connectivity and also assist in designing aspects.