On Wednesday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of Maharashtra proposed a rail freight corridor to connect the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Motorway with ports such as the Vadhvan Port and the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority in order to drastically reduce logistical costs.
If his proposal were to be put into action, it would increase the advantage of port-led development in Maharashtra from its current 15% to almost 75%, according to him.
The two cities of Mumbai and Pune are being called India’s “Quantum Valley” by Fadnavis. He said that a bullet train, a high-speed rail link, will connect the two cities and make them the country’s largest economic corridor for innovation and technology.
During his speech at the opening of Jabil’s new facility in Pune, the head of electronics manufacturing company, said that all of Maharashtra would be better connected to global supply chains through a dedicated rail freight corridor that would link ports with inland dry ports and industrial hubs.The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), located in Maharashtra, is responsible for over 60% of India’s container trade. Furthermore, he said that the construction of Vadhvan Port, close to Mumbai, was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This port will be three times larger than the JNPA and will rank among the top ten largest ports in the world.
The chief minister mentioned that he had a conversation about the idea with railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was also there.Our goal is to construct a special rail freight line that runs between JNPA and Vadhvan Port in the Palghar district. According to Fadnavis, the corridor will follow the Samruddhi Highway, which has the right-of-way for the railway reserved for around 701 km.
He asserted that the planned network would link the dry ports of Jalna (Marathwada) and Wardha (Vidarbha) before continuing to Gadchiroli (or “the new steel city of India”) in eastern Maharashtra.According to the CM, this will help them reach their goal of reducing logistics costs to 8 or 7 percent and integrate into the emerging global supply chain.
Fadnavis claims that only 15% of Maharashtra has profited from port-led development thus far, but that this will increase to nearly 75% with the proposed link.”Our dream is to be able to put up industry anywhere and have dedicated port connectivity,” he stated.
Fadnavis said that 14 percent of the country’s gross domestic product comes from Maharashtra, and that the state is responsible for approximately 20 percent of exports, highlighting the economic importance of the state.
He emphasised that, with the creation of over 60% of India’s data centre capacity, Maharashtra has become a prominent center for electronics manufacturing and data centres.
Commending Jabil’s growth in Maharashtra, he promised the company that the government will back its expansion and make doing business easier.Industries are seen as allies by us. Helping you every step of the way, we are here to be your partner. The CM emphasised that any issues should be promptly reported.
Image: NLC Bharat
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