The ground-breaking ceremony for Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust ‘s new Wardha Dry Port was held on Monday at the hands of Shri Nitin Gadkari, Honourable Union Minister Shipping, Road Transport, Highways, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India.
Honourable Chief Minister, Government of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis presided over the ceremony in the August presence of Shri Sudhir Mungantiwar, Hon’ble Minister for Forest & Finance, Guardian Minister of Wardha District, Government of Maharashtra, and Shri Madan Yerawar, Hon’ble State Minister for Energy, Tourism, Food and Drug Administration, Public Works (Public Undertakings), General Administration, Government of Maharashtra.
Shri Ravikant (I.A.S.) Secretary, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India and Shri Anil Diggikar (I.A.S.) Chairman, JNPT hosted the event which was also attended by other senior officials from the various ministries, and local functionaries.
“Any container that arrives in Mumbai can be transported to Sindi Railway Dry Port directly by rail which will help trade save on cost they incur while using road transport. It will also enhance the export capabilities of the region, especially of Nagpur’s famous oranges, wood, chemicals etc. These dry and satellite ports will also have cold storage, pre-cooling plants that would be helpful even to local farmers,” Hon’ble Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari said.
The new Dry Port located in Sindhi village in Wardha district of Maharashtra, is part of the Government of India’s “Sagarmala” project aimed at transforming the country’s logistic landscape. It will also help in providing effective logistics services to the industries in Vidarbha region and improve cargo throughput at the Port.
Further expressing his appreciation, Shri Gadkari said, “One of our primary objectives for setting up this facility was to provide employment to local youth and help in the development of the region.”
Expressing gratitude to the Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari and congratulating JNPT, Honourable Chief Minister, Government of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis said “The Wardha Dry port will be a milestone in the development of the Vidharba region. Logistics will now become the biggest business in India and Nagpur which is centrally located will become the logistics hub. At one end is a port like JNPT which handles the largest number of container traffic, on the other a logistics centre like Nagpur and joining both will be the Maharashtra government’s `Samrudhhi’ corridor will give rise to a new opportunity at Wardha dry port. This will be in a way be an economic corridor which has the Nagpur cargo hub, Wardha dry port, the dry port which is being developed at Jhalna and JNPT’s port will prove to be extremely beneficial for Maharashtra, especially Vidharba and Marathwada regions,”
The Dry Port is proposed to be constructed over an area of 350 acres in a phased development and Phase-I is expected to be developed at an estimated cost of Rs.180 crore (including private investment of Rs. 79 crore). Phase-I would involve development of around 25 Ha of the total area. The project would be a one-stop shop for the EXIM-based industries, with facilities such as customs clearance facilities, Container Freight Station, Warehousing Space, Cold Storage, Liquid Storage, truck terminals etc.[/vc_column_text]
