India's CONCOR to build 8 container depots
Container Corp of India Ltd plans to build eight container depots on top of plans by terminal operators to develop 40 facilities in the coming years, according to Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
This comes as Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) formed a joint venture company with Allcargo Global Logistics to establish a container freight station (CFS) at ICD Dadri.
Today, 60 container depots are operational including three built by private companies, said Mr Yadav in a Reuters report.
The eight box depots will be open for business by 2010. "Six container depots will be ready by March 2009. The other two are expected by the end of calendar year 2009 or by the end of fiscal 2010," said a Container Corp spokeswoman.
Container Corp will invest INR400 million (US$10.08 million) on average for each depot, she said.
These developments come on the heels of plans revealed earlier by state-run Container Corp to invest INR30 billion by 2012 to add more container wagons, upgrade existing box rail terminals and fund its joint ventures with transporters, managing director Rakesh Mehrotra told Reuters in December.
The investment is intended to boost Container Corp's competitiveness after its monopoly on operating container trains was ended in 2006, when the Indian Railways allowed 15 private operators to enter the market.
Container Corp operates 146 trains, while other operators run 44. "The number of trains run by other operators is expected to increase to 50-55 by the end of this year," the minister said.
India's container traffic is forecast to top 26 million tonnes in 2007/08 including two million tonnes contributed by new operators, he said.
In a related development, Allcargo Global Logistics and Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) have formed a joint venture company, which has not yet been named, to establish a container freight station (CFS) at ICD Dadri, Greater Noida in the state of Uttar Pradesh, to handle container traffic from North India.
The modern CFS would be developed on site measuring 40,000 square metres and will be designed to have an annual handling capacity of 84,000 TEU. The CFS is expected to commence operations by January 2009, reports the Equity Bulls news portal in Chennai.
This comes as Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) formed a joint venture company with Allcargo Global Logistics to establish a container freight station (CFS) at ICD Dadri.
Today, 60 container depots are operational including three built by private companies, said Mr Yadav in a Reuters report.
The eight box depots will be open for business by 2010. "Six container depots will be ready by March 2009. The other two are expected by the end of calendar year 2009 or by the end of fiscal 2010," said a Container Corp spokeswoman.
Container Corp will invest INR400 million (US$10.08 million) on average for each depot, she said.
These developments come on the heels of plans revealed earlier by state-run Container Corp to invest INR30 billion by 2012 to add more container wagons, upgrade existing box rail terminals and fund its joint ventures with transporters, managing director Rakesh Mehrotra told Reuters in December.
The investment is intended to boost Container Corp's competitiveness after its monopoly on operating container trains was ended in 2006, when the Indian Railways allowed 15 private operators to enter the market.
Container Corp operates 146 trains, while other operators run 44. "The number of trains run by other operators is expected to increase to 50-55 by the end of this year," the minister said.
India's container traffic is forecast to top 26 million tonnes in 2007/08 including two million tonnes contributed by new operators, he said.
In a related development, Allcargo Global Logistics and Container Corporation of India Ltd (CONCOR) have formed a joint venture company, which has not yet been named, to establish a container freight station (CFS) at ICD Dadri, Greater Noida in the state of Uttar Pradesh, to handle container traffic from North India.
The modern CFS would be developed on site measuring 40,000 square metres and will be designed to have an annual handling capacity of 84,000 TEU. The CFS is expected to commence operations by January 2009, reports the Equity Bulls news portal in Chennai.