Indrani Dutta

The proposed Kolkata Logistics Hub aims at shifting the wholesale and retail trade in the metro's periphery and free up the city centre of congestion.

THE West Bengal Government is all set to invite expressions of interest (EoIs) for a logistics hub near Kolkata. This will be the first of its kind in the country, say the State government officials. The State government wants to float global tenders for implementing the project by way of public-private partnership.

The main objective of launching the project is to rid the city of the heavy movement of goods transport and create an enabling atmosphere for wholesale and retail trade in the periphery of the metro area. The preliminary work on the project, according to the West Bengal Urban Development Minister, Mr Ashok Bhattacharyya, has been initiated by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) with the acquisition of 108 acres near the Kona Expressway.

The KMDA is a statutory planning and development authority set up under an Act for long-term planning, design and implementation of intervention projects in the Kolkata metropolitan area. It is engaged in a clutch of projects aimed at improving urban infrastructure.

The Kolkata Logistics Hub, as the project is called, will be complete with a truck terminal, modern and specialised warehouses with `reverse logistics' facilities, parking space, wholesale and retail trading platforms, office and institutional space, accommodation and facilities for repairing and refuelling of the trucks.

With a built-up space of 4.5 million square feet (of which 30 per cent would be reserved for warehouses), the project would have space for parking 1200 vehicles. It may be mentioned here that the Kona Truck Terminal is close to the site of the proposed hub and the remaining facilities would get added as part of the hub. The entire project is estimated to cost Rs 250 crore or an estimated $56 million.

The Mumbai-based consultancy firm Chesterton Meghraj undertook both techno-feasibility study and financial analysis for the project on the public-private partnership model considered suitable. The firm submitted the reports in the latter half of 2004.

Quoting from the study, State government sources point out that in 1999-2000, the freight traffic throughput in and out of Kolkata was 98.64 million tonnes, of which as much as 74.25 million tonnes was by road, 13.39 million tonnes by rail, and the balance by waterways.

A Master Plan for Traffic and Transportation in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, as prepared by the KMDA for 2001-05, projects an annual growth of 3 per cent with the total throughput estimated to touch 124.71 million tonnes in 2011, 140.44 million tonnes in 2016 and 155.82 million tonnes in 2021.

The site for the proposed hub has been selected with care. It is located at the tri-junction of National Highway No 2, NH 6 and the Kona Expressway, designated as NH 117 now.

The NH 2 establishes connection with the North India, NH 6 with the South and the west, and NH 117 with the city, its ports and airports. More important, through NH 34 and 35, it links up the North-East and will also open up possibilities for trading through Nathu La pass as and when it becomes functional.

The bilateral talks between India and Thailand explored, among other things, the scope of having a road network from New Delhi to Bangkok via Myanmar. The proposed network, it is pointed out, will pass close to the proposed logistics hub thus throwing up new opportunities and strengthening the Government's `Look-East' policy.

One of the features of the project would be to provide reverse logistics facilities. Citing an example, the sources explain that if an FMCG company in the hub is required to handle a consignment of rejects, it should be able to get in touch with a company specialising in handling such activities and outsource the entire job. The project, thus, is expected to spawn economic activity in its hinterland with strong backward and forward linkages.

With the world getting smaller and with markets getting liberalised, the demand for movement of merchandise, goods and services and for the wide range of activities in the logistics sector is steadily rising. According to estimates, Europe's annual logistics sector turnover totalled some euro 700 billion in 2002, with storage making up for 45 per cent, transport 40 per cent and order handling 15 per cent.

This gives an idea on the possible gains from this project, which is expected to spawn a network of similar smaller projects around this region, besides paving the way for creating a network throughout the country.

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