The Hindu Business Line : Concor plans to launch terminal in Durgapur

CONTAINER Corporation of India (Concor) is planning to launch a terminal in Durgapur (West Bengal), close to the railway goods shed hereIt has applied to the Asansol Durgapur Development Authority for 29 acres of land for the same.

The proposed terminal will cater mainly to the large number of secondary steel producers and other industrial units in the Asansol-Durgapur area.

Right now, Concor runs seven terminals in eastern region - three in West Bengal (Kolkata Dock System, Haldia and Shalimar) and one each at Balasore (Orissa), Tatanagar (Jharkhand), Amingaon (Assam) and Fatuha (Bihar). The proposed terminal, when commissioned, will be the fourth in West Bengal and eighth in the eastern region.

"Once land is allotted, it will be another year or so before the Durgapur terminal becomes ready for operation," Mr B.K. Joshi, Chief General Manager of Concor (eastern region), told Business Line recently.

Concor, as Mr Joshi pointed out, had worked out an alternative arrangement to meet the requirements of the steel producers and other industrial units of the area, till the terminal was ready. The empties were being placed at the factories and, on stuffing, being transported by road (known as road-bridging) to the railway goods shed at Raneegunge, not far from Durgapur.

At the Raneegunge railway goods shed, the boxes were being placed on railway flats (rakes) for transportation to different destinations within the country.

Thus, the first such rake, complete with 60 boxes loaded with TMT bars, left for Bangalore recently and the second rake, with 60 boxes full of stainless steel bars, would leave for Rajasthan shortly. The cargo for another rake, again TMT bars for Bangalore, was ready but the rake was not immediately available. A move therefore was afoot to procure the rake at the earliest.

Mr Joshi hoped the rake would arrive within the next few days. If the trend now is any indication, it is estimated that the cargo inducement for the current arrangement would be the equivalent of four rakes a month. "I must compliment the Indian Railways for the help make our effort a success," said Mr Joshi.