Our Bureau

Bangalore , July 1

THE Union Commerce & Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, inaugurated a new import warehouse at the Bangalore Air Cargo Complex (BACC) here today.

The Rs 3-crore, 50,000-sq ft facility caters to the increasing import cargo inflow, which surpassed 43,000 tonnes during 2003-04, according to BACC officials.

BACC is a division of the State-owned Mysore Sales International Ltd.

Mr Kamal Nath said that in the coming decade, Indian airports would see seven per cent increase in their international cargo handling activities. "It is our target to double the percentage share in global trade within the next five years," he said, urging the air cargo industry to keep pace with the economic growth of the country by improving the infrastructure, especially for time-critical and high-value goods travelling long distances.

Citing a study by the Ministry, he said export related activities provided 10 lakh direct jobs last fiscal; currently, they sustained a crore jobs a day. Promotion of exports was one way of addressing the challenge of generating employment for the growing numbers of youth. Airport infrastructure was being constantly upgraded as in the case of centres for perishable cargo at the metros, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. Similar facilities would be completed soon at Kolkata, Amritsar and Ahmedabad.

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