To formally commence the Container Freight Station operations within the Multi Modal Logistics Park of Visakhapatnam Port Logistics Park Ltd. a puja was performed in the presence of Shri Adika Ratna Sekhar on April 24th, 2023 in Visakhapatnam. The event was graced by Shri Engineer Kesavan – Commissioner of Customs, Shri Durgesh Kumar Dubey – Deputy Chairman, Visakhapatnam Port Authority, Directors and COO of Balmer Lawrie, and other Port and Customs Officials. M/s Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd., a Government of India Enterprise under Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, had set up a Multi Modal Logistic Hub (MMLH) in Joint Venture with Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) namely Visakhapatnam Port Logistics Park Limited (VPLPL).
During its corporate journey of over 156 years Balmer Lawrie, a diverse PSE with presence in both manufacturing and services sectors, has emerged as a market leader in the various segments that it operates. It is an end-to-end Logistics Services provider with best-in-class infrastructure including Container Freight Stations (CFS), Cold Chain Units, Warehouses and owned fleet of Temperature Controlled Vehicles spread across the country. Balmer Lawrie joined hands with Visakhapatnam Port Authority for setting up the state-of-the-art MMLH spread over an area of 53 acres with the objective of significantly contributing to the Logistics goals of the nation and also meet the growing demands of the region. The MMLH has the capability to accommodate / handle both Exim and Domestic cargo. Exim area will have CFS,, Warehousing, Cold Storage / Temperature Controlled Warehouse, Open Cargo Storage, Hazardous & Non-Hazardous Cargo Handling, Truck Parking etc. The existing facility of VPLPL is perfectly in line with Prime Minister’s Gati Shakti initiative.
Balmer Lawrie has been in the CFS business since 1994 and has an excellent relationship with all stakeholders. The CFS facility in VPLPL is spread over 25 acres and this is the only other facility in Visakhapatnam which has rail connectivity with the Port (other than CONCOR’s facility) which will facilitate faster evacuation of containers from the Port besides reducing the congestion on the road. Since the facility is a rail-linked CFS facility in Visakhapatnam, it can be instrumental to bring in Exim volumes of considerable heavy weight such as Aluminium, Steel, Rice etc. from neighbouring states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. There is potential of leveraging ECTS (Electronic Cargo Monitoring System) for cargo movement to Nepal, Bangladesh through VPLPL. This is the only facility with refrigeration facility and has a huge potential for movement of refrigerated cargo as well. The event was followed up with a gala evening at Novotel, Visakhapatnam which was well represented by prominent members of the Vizag Exim Trade fraternity.
Source: Sagar Sandesh
