Gadkari reviews progress of work on logistics parks

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday reviewed the progress of the work to set up multi-modal logistics parks across the country.

In a meeting held here in this connection, Gadkari took stock of the status of 34 memorandums of understanding, entailing an expenditure of about Rs two lakh crore, signed at the India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit held from May 3-5.

Gadkari directed that a lead agency should be identified for each of the 34 projects, to act as its head.

A time schedule should be drawn up for completion of the projects and implementation done in a time-bound manner, an official statement said.

The Minister said the location of the logistics parks should be selected outside city limits, so that it does not create any inconvenience for the general public.

The summit was a forum where stakeholders like the central and state governments, infrastructure developers in the private sector and global experts had come together to discuss and formulate a roadmap for developing an integrated, multi-modal logistics and transport system in the country.

Gadkari suggested that efforts be made to persuade various agencies to shift their godowns, currently situated inside cities, to the logistics parks.

The Minister directed that the projects should focus on facilitating a favourable modal mix of transport, with use of inland waterways wherever possible.

Otherwise railways should be the preferred mode of transport since it is more cost effective and less polluting that road transport, the statement added.