Three mega logistics parks to come up in district

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 3

Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora on Friday said three mega logistics parks will come up in the district that will act as stimulants for the growth of the industry.

He said logistics has been added in the State Industrial Policy, as it is the backbone of our entire industry and cannot be left out. The minister said this while addressing a gathering on the occasion of Punjab Logistics Conclave 2018 in the city.

Arora said all three new logistic parks would come up near Kila Raipur village of the district. These include Multimodal Logistics Park by Adani group, another park by Punjab Logistics Infrastructure Limited and one by Punjab State Warehousing Corporation. He said these parks would cater to complete logistics needs of the industrial belt of Ludhiana, including the industrial hubs located close to regions such as Jalandhar, Amritsar, Bathinda, Sangrur, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Hoshiarpur. These would be a one-stop solution for all logistics, transportation, warehousing needs of the region providing complete solutions.

He said a special cell had been formed by the state government so that the logistics sector is not ignored.

He said land banks have been developed by the department in different parts of the state and the state government was willing to provide land at reserve price to the industrialists forming clusters. He said till now, 25 clusters have been approved in the state and two new clusters have been approved for Oil Expeller Industry of the district.

Rakesh Kumar Verma, principal secretary, Industries and Commerce, Punjab, and DPS Kharbanda, director of Industries and Commerce, Punjab, said at present, the logistics cost for the industry in India is 14 per cent, while in China its 10 per cent. They said in the next five years, the department was working to bring down these costs to 7 to 8 per cent. They claimed that during a recent survey, Punjab stands second in the country in terms of logistics infrastructure facilities and by 2020, Punjab would be on number 1 spot. They urged the industrialists to take advantage of Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) that has been started by the Union government for the benefit of exporters.

Arora said all cases related to VAT and GST would be cleared by December 2018. He said the state was developing a special warehousing park in the Zirakpur-Tepla-Rajpura Zone. The minister said the objective of this conclave was to understand the dynamics of logistics value chain and to identify gaps, which would initiate the necessary government interventions to fill these gaps. Mahesh Khanna, GMDIC, Ludhiana, said a total of 14 MoUs worth Rs869 crore were signed between the industrialists and the Punjab Government during the conclave.