The Chennai Port Trust (ChPT) is in talks with the Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL), a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, to participate in the special purpose vehicle (SPV) for implementing the Rs 1,045 crore multi-modal logistics park (MMLP) at Mappedu in Tiruvallur near Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The MMLP is among the first to be chosen for the implementation under the Centre’s grand scheme of Bharatmala Pariyojana. Under this scheme, 35 such MMLPs are planned across India to enhance logistics efficiency and reduce cost.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the MMLP at Mappedu was signed among the ChPT, the Tamil Nadu government (through TIDCO) and the National Highways Authority of India (National Highways Management).
While the four equity shareholders, including RVNL, will bring in a total of Rs 600 crore in the SPV, the private player who will develop the park will bring an equal amount. The capital contribution of RVNL will be treated as equity in the SPV.
The SPV will select a concessionaire/contractor through competitive bidding for the development and operation of the MMLP.
The MMLP, which will be developed over 158 acre of land, will have road and rail connectivity. It will act as a logistics aggregation/disaggregation point for various forms of cargo across different transportation modes. It will provide large-scale warehousing and cold storage facility with provisions for value-added services like packaging and labelling.
The logistics park will be a one-stop solution for all services related to cargo movement, including cross-docking, container stackyard, custom clearance, testing facilities, documentation and weighbridges. Various amenities, including truck parking, will also be provided.
The ChPT will hand over the 121.74 acre of Port Trust land to the SPV; the state will contribute Rs 50 crore to the SPV. An additional area of 36.23 acre adjacent to the Port Trust land will be acquired by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which will also bear the cost of the road connectivity project.
A new railway siding will be developed at the MMLP to provide rail connectivity from the nearest rail head near Kadambattur for a length of about 12 km.