Gateway Distriparks Ltd (GDL), India’s largest private sector logistics player, sees a bright future for container business from Visakhapatnam with the State Government announcing its plan to develop Visakhapatnam and Kakinada ports into a logistics hub.
GDL Chairman and Managing Director Prem Kishan Gupta, who was here to take part in the decennial celebration of its Container Freight Station (CFS), told The Hindu that they would like to take an active part in transforming the region into a logistics hub.
GDL is a logistics facilitator with three areas of activity — CFS at Visakhapatnam, Navi Mumbai, Chennai and Kochi; Inland Container Depots with rail movement of containers to major ports and cold chain storages at various places. GDL is promoted by Newsprint Trading & Sales Corporation (NTSC), Windmill International Pvt. Ltd and Parameswara Holdings Ltd as an Indo-Singapore joint venture.
Mr. Gupta said they had sought allotment of five acres from Visakhapatnam port for expanding their existing CFS, which has been developed over the years in an area of 20 acres. The CFS handles 5,000 TEU (twenty feet equivalent units) per month. “We are expecting a growth of 15 per cent this year and further jump once the economy firms up,” he stated.
The company, he disclosed, recently bought 50 acres at Krishnapatnam in Nellore district to set up a new CFS. “An investment of Rs.60 crore is being made in the first phase and it will be operational in a year-and-a-half.”Mr. Gupta said the company was excited about emerging opportunities in facilitating logistic trade in Andhra Pradesh.
“When we wanted to start container business in Visakhapatnam 11 years ago, there was virtually nothing. But now with plans for further expansion of Visakha Container Terminal Private Ltd, we see plenty of opportunities,” he remarked. VCTPL is expected to launch work on Rs.633.11-crore expansion project early next year to increase capacity of its container terminal from 0.54 million TEU to 1.2 million TEU per annum. It seeks five acres for expansion of its Container Freight Station
Courtesy : The Hindu