A report by CII -Knight Frank India highlighted that the country's next wave of logistics competitiveness will depend on scaling Multimodal Logistics Parks (MMLPs) to manage a huge freight surge. The report also noted that it is vital to accelerate the shift from road to rail movement.
The freight movement is projected to reach 28 billion tonnes by 2047, and the report asserted that India would need about 215 next-generation MMLPs to process nearly 3,162 MMT of cargo annually if these parks are to handle even 30 per cent of the country's rail freight.
The report suggested that currently, India's operational MMLP network handles just 129 MMT annually, or 2 per cent of total freight movement, indicating ample headroom for expansion.
The report noted that long-term success depends on building larger-format, high-density multimodal hubs capable of aggregating cargo at commercially viable scales, integrated with Dedicated Freight Corridors and port networks.
The report also noted that transport infrastructure investment has jumped from 10 billion dollars in FY2016 to 57.6 billion dollars in FY2026, expanding highways, rail, ports, and freight corridors.
Knight Frank's Operational Infrastructure Index showed infrastructure efficiency improved 59 per cent between FY2016 and FY2026. This has helped cut logistics costs to nearly 10-10.5 per cent of GDP in FY2026, generating annual savings of Rs 10.8-11.7 trillion (122-133 billion dollars).
Yet road still dominates, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of freight movement by tonne-kilometre versus 27.4% for rail, despite rail freight costs being nearly half.
MMLPs can help correct this imbalance.
The report estimated that integrating DFC infrastructure with MMLP-grade systems can cut door-to-door freight costs by 43 per cent versus road-only transport, while mechanised operations slash cargo dwell times from 34-152 hours to just 2.5-8 hours.
India currently has 30 operational MMLPs, which are smaller in scale and another 45 under various stages of development, creating a medium-term pipeline of 75 logistics parks. However, the scale requirement remains significantly larger to support the country's long-term freight transformation goals," the report said.
Notably, the report pressed for stronger central coordination, deploying CPSE freight as anchor demand, and strengthening first and last-mile links to make MMLPs true multimodal hubs rather than road-fed warehouses.
With inputs from ANI