MUMBAI: Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari has said that the upcoming 8 Multi-Modal Logistics Parks in Maharashtra will bring in employment opportunities and some relief in transport costs. He was virtually addressing a review meeting regarding the eight Multimodal Logistics Parks planned in Ratnagiri, Jalna, Bhiwandi, Akola, Sangli, Jalgaon, Solapur, Nashik districts. 

Mr. Gadkari said these parks will help in reducing the transportation costs by 6-7 percent and thus aid in the State’s development.

Also present on the occasion, Maharashtra’s Industries Minister Shri Uday Samant said a decrease in transport cost will help retailers as well as consumers. He said development of these parks will also help in exports of local specialties like mangoes and cashews from Ratnagiri, grapes from Nashik, pulses from Akola and sugar from Western Maharashtra, which in turn will help in the prosperity of these districts. The Minister said necessary procedures to acquire land for development will be fast-tracked.

The locations are chosen to identify the products of that particular area. Ratnagiri would be the centre for mango and cashew nuts, Nasik, Sangli and Jalgaon are known for their grapes, the Vidarbha region for oranges and dal, while parks in western Maharashtra can be used for sugar transport.

“Maharashtra Government’s industries department, National Highways Logistics Management Limited and Railway Vikas Nigam Limited will sign joint agreements to set up these parks. The State Government will make the land available for the same,” said Samant, adding that the proposals in this regard will be sent to the concerned departments soon.

The logistic parks have been conceptualised to enable seamless inter-modal freight movement and offer multiple functionalities such as freight aggregation and distribution. Storage and warehousing solutions and value-added services such as customs clearances and IT services will also be provided to users of these facilities.