Concor (India), Gateway Rail ink deal for container terminal
Container Corporation of India (Concor) and Gateway Rail Freight Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Gateway Distriparks, have entered into an agreement to set up a joint venture company to construct and operate a rail-linked double-stack container terminal at Garhi Harsaru near Gurgaon in Haryana connecting NCR to the western ports. Gateway Rail acquired a rail container operating licence last year.
"The terminal would be built with an investment of Rs 70 crore, with an equity element of Rs 21 crore," said Mr R.K. Mehrotra, Managing Director, Concor. Gateway Rail and Concor will have shareholding in the ratio of 51:49 respectively in this venture. The depot is expected to be in place in one year, he said in a press conference here today.
The terminal will be spread over an area of about 100 acres and will have a rail handling and transshipment terminal, an ICD, multiple container freight station, warehouse complex and a domestic cargo hub. It will also have a large warehousing complex for both bonded and transit cargo with separate facilities for cold storage, reefer containers and for domestic cargo. The move is aimed at consolidating cargo volumes of north India for double-stack container train operation on the diesel route from NCR to JN Port, Mundra and Pipavav using the Delhi-Rewari-Ringus-Phulera route. This terminal is likely to be connected to the proposed Western Dedicated Rail Freight Corridor, and have road links to the proposed Kundali - Manesar - Palwal (KMP) Expressway.
It will also be developed as a hub for rail transport of cars and two-wheelers between north India and western, central, eastern and southern Indian locations. "With Maruti's plans to export about three lakh cars every year, we are eyeing that traffic and we are in talks with various automobile firms including Maruti," Mr Mehrotra said. Concor, which had entered into an agreement with NYK Liner for offering automobile services with specially designed wagons, stated that the joint venture company would supplement the agreement with NYK. "Our MoU with NYK allows us to get additional strategic partners as well," he said.
On whether Concor is talking to Pipavav Rail Corporation (another company with rail container operations licence), which has specially designed containers to be able to move more cars in a rake, Mr Mehrotra said, "We are open to talks with everybody including Pipavav Rail."
Other container operators would be allowed to use the terminal facilities depending on capacity availability, Mr Gopinath Pillai, Chairman, Gateway Distriparks said, declining to divulge the access charges.
The terminal will cater to the industrial areas of Delhi, Bijwasan, Gurgaon, Manesar, Dharuhera, Bawal, Hissar, Sonepat, Panipat in Haryana and Bhiwadi, Neemrana and Behror in Rajasthan. The terminal will also facilitate the export-import traffic from the proposed Haryana SEZ.
Gateway Rail has already placed order for two rakes (each rake consisting of 45 wagons), one of which is expected to be delivered within two weeks, Mr Pillai said.
This agreement replaces the existing agreement between Concor and Gateway Distriparks on train operations from ICD Garhi Harsaru. Gateway Distriparks has an operational rail-linked ICD at this location. Currently, Concor provides rail connectivity to this ICD. The operation of this ICD will be taken over by the joint venture company. Rail operations will now be done jointly by Gateway Rail and Concor.
"The terminal would be built with an investment of Rs 70 crore, with an equity element of Rs 21 crore," said Mr R.K. Mehrotra, Managing Director, Concor. Gateway Rail and Concor will have shareholding in the ratio of 51:49 respectively in this venture. The depot is expected to be in place in one year, he said in a press conference here today.
The terminal will be spread over an area of about 100 acres and will have a rail handling and transshipment terminal, an ICD, multiple container freight station, warehouse complex and a domestic cargo hub. It will also have a large warehousing complex for both bonded and transit cargo with separate facilities for cold storage, reefer containers and for domestic cargo. The move is aimed at consolidating cargo volumes of north India for double-stack container train operation on the diesel route from NCR to JN Port, Mundra and Pipavav using the Delhi-Rewari-Ringus-Phulera route. This terminal is likely to be connected to the proposed Western Dedicated Rail Freight Corridor, and have road links to the proposed Kundali - Manesar - Palwal (KMP) Expressway.
It will also be developed as a hub for rail transport of cars and two-wheelers between north India and western, central, eastern and southern Indian locations. "With Maruti's plans to export about three lakh cars every year, we are eyeing that traffic and we are in talks with various automobile firms including Maruti," Mr Mehrotra said. Concor, which had entered into an agreement with NYK Liner for offering automobile services with specially designed wagons, stated that the joint venture company would supplement the agreement with NYK. "Our MoU with NYK allows us to get additional strategic partners as well," he said.
On whether Concor is talking to Pipavav Rail Corporation (another company with rail container operations licence), which has specially designed containers to be able to move more cars in a rake, Mr Mehrotra said, "We are open to talks with everybody including Pipavav Rail."
Other container operators would be allowed to use the terminal facilities depending on capacity availability, Mr Gopinath Pillai, Chairman, Gateway Distriparks said, declining to divulge the access charges.
The terminal will cater to the industrial areas of Delhi, Bijwasan, Gurgaon, Manesar, Dharuhera, Bawal, Hissar, Sonepat, Panipat in Haryana and Bhiwadi, Neemrana and Behror in Rajasthan. The terminal will also facilitate the export-import traffic from the proposed Haryana SEZ.
Gateway Rail has already placed order for two rakes (each rake consisting of 45 wagons), one of which is expected to be delivered within two weeks, Mr Pillai said.
This agreement replaces the existing agreement between Concor and Gateway Distriparks on train operations from ICD Garhi Harsaru. Gateway Distriparks has an operational rail-linked ICD at this location. Currently, Concor provides rail connectivity to this ICD. The operation of this ICD will be taken over by the joint venture company. Rail operations will now be done jointly by Gateway Rail and Concor.