The National Highways Logistics Management Limited, under the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), under the Union Ministry of Shipping and Waterways signed an MoU to develop a Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.

The 150-acre park will strategically connect to NH7 via a 650m access road and is just 1.5 km from the NH7-NH2 junction, MoRTH said in a statement.

It will also seamlessly integrate with the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor through a 5.1 km railway line from Jeonathpur Station and National Waterway-1 and is located 30 km from Lal Bahadur Shastri Airport, the statement added.

An IWAI official said the economic survey had said currently the cost of logistics across sectors is around 20%. “The aim of the government is to make it at 7-8%. Projects like this will help in this regard. “

The first such multimodal logistics park came up in Chennai in November 2022 which integrated maritime transport with multiple ports located in the vicinity such as Chennai Port at 50 km, 80 km from Ennore Port, and 87 km from Kattupalli Port.