Pinarayi Vijayan assures DP World of land for mega project

Both the DP World and the state government expressed confidence the movement of cargo will move away from the roads while making it easier to transport goods once the inland waterway goes on stream.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (File | EPS)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan (File | EPS)

KOCHI: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday - which was the final day of his UAE visit - met the top management of DP World in Dubai and explored the possibility of setting up various projects, including a logistics park, in Kochi. The DP World-operated International Container Transshipment Terminal at Vallarpadam here is functioning exceedingly well. This has led the DP World to propose the setting up of a logistics and industrial park in Kochi to the visiting Chief Minister.

Pinarayi, who held talks with DP World chairman Sultan Bin Sulayem, vice-president Omar al Muhairy, CFP Raj Singh Walia, CFO at the DP World headquarters, said the state government will provide the  land needed for the project. The Logistics and Industrial Park will be a joint venture of the Kerala Government and the UAE,  Pinarayi assured Sulayem.

The DP World has also evinced interest in the development of Kerala’s inland waterways, which has immense potential for the state’s industrial and trade sector. Besides, DP World has shown interest in assisting the state government in the Kasargod-Thiruvananthapuram waterway project, an ambitious project which is expected to become a reality by 2020.

Both the DP World and the state government expressed confidence the movement of cargo will move away from the roads while making it easier to transport goods once the inland waterway goes on stream.
 In 2016, the Centre under the Logistics Efficiency Enhancement Programme of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had come out with a list of 15 cities across 11 states where multimodal logistics park will be established. Kochi figures in the list.

The selection was made on the basis of the highest freight movement (40 per cent of the total freight movement in the country) in Phase I. As per the plan, the Kochi park will require 264 acre of land - 110 acre for storage, 88 acre for allied infrastructure and 66 acre for future expansion and landscaping - is needed for setting up the park.

It is not clear if the logistics park proposed by the DP World and the state government and the one proposed by the Centre are the same.Principal Secretary K Elangovan, John Brittas, Yusuff Ali MA and other officers were present during the meeting in Dubai.

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