The Andhra Pradesh Government is planning to set up a dedicated truck terminal and logistics hub in Nellore district as part of the logistics requirement in the Bangalore-Chennai-Krishnapatnam port freight corridor.

The project, which will be taken up by the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation, with financial assistance from the Centre, is likely to become operational within a year. The facility will come up at Venkatachalam with an estimated investment of about Rs 40 crore.

“This corridor is experiencing increased movement of trucks and container vehicles flowing in and out of the Krishnapatnam and other non-major ports on the Andhra Pradesh coast. There is a need for a truck terminal and logistics hub,” J. Geetha Reddy, AP Minister for Major Industries, told media persons here today.

Currently, cargo-laden trucks are parked haphazardly in this region. The proposed terminal, to be set up over 51 acres, will initially provide basic logistics services and later add other services related to export and import of cargoes.

Krishnapatnam port, which has five multi-purpose berths with a draft of about 15 mts, handles a little over 16 million tonnes, as against the phase-I installed capacity of 25 mt.

The three non-major ports on the AP coast, including Gangavaram and Kakinada ports, together handle a throughput of 40 mt. A bulk of these cargoes moves down south, passing through the Bangalore-Chennai-Krishnapatnam port freight corridor.

In addition to these ports, another two are coming up at Machilipatnam, with a proposed initial capacity of 20 mt and Nizampatnam (15 mt).

“The land for the project has been acquired. The complex will be processing 300 tonnes of hides and skin per day. The Centre has released Rs 15 crore as grant, while the State Government released Rs 10 crore to start off the project,” Geetha Reddy said.

amitmitra@thehindu.co.in

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