Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : The Ministry of Shipping has approved the development of a Rs 156 crore freight village in Varanasi, UP, adjoining the Inland Waterways Terminal on River Ganga. The Varanasi freight village will be developed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). It will serve as a cargo hub and a centre for aggregation and value addition. It will also provide support to stimulate development of a professional logistics industry in Varanasi.
A freight village is a designated area where facilities for various modes of transportation, distribution of goods and other logistics are available in a synchronised manner on a largescale. The main function of freight villages is management and utilisation of various modes of transport, synergising them and decongesting the existing mode of transportation.
Freight villages are basically cargo aggregators which offer various logistic choices to a shipper/ cargo owner; i.e. choice of rail-road, rail-waterway, road-waterway. The choice is based on the optimal/ lowest logistic cost that can be derived by the shipper/ cargo owner. Delivery and coordination of various freight related activities under one roof ensures ease of doing business and makes it possible to realise high truck capacity due to which economic efficiency and activity of the enterprises on site can be improved.
A World Bank pre-feasibility study has found Varanasi to be a suitable site for the freight village. The city is located strategically and is a focal point in the logistics chain of Eastern Transport Corridor of India where the National Waterways-1, Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), National Highway-7 and National Highway-2 pass through. The volume of traffic on inland waterway to Varanasi is expected to increase with the commissioning of the multi modal terminal being built under the Jal Marg Vikas project, according to a PIB release.