The government is committed towards providing world-class transport and logistics infrastructure in the country to support the growth of economic activity. According to a PIB report, at a recent conference in New Delhi, Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, said that 44 economic corridors and 24 multi-modal logistics parks have been planned under the Bharatmala programme. These are being planned on the hub and spoke model to facilitate efficient movement of freight, along routes of economic importance.
The multi-modal logistics parks are being planned as centres of freight aggregation with warehousing, cold storage and other facilities. These parks will be built on the National Highway outside cities, as this will help reduce traffic congestion as well as pollution. Work has already begun for setting up logistics parks at Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vijaywada, Surat and Guwahati.
Furthermore, under the Sagarmala programme, 14 coastal economic zones have been planned.
This is in addition to the 111 waterways that are being developed as National Waterways; river Ganga, Brahmaputra and Barak are already under development. Further, the efficiency of the 12 major ports has been growing rapidly, and dry ports are being developed at Jalna, Vidarbha and Nasik to begin with. Also, apart from the development of road and water transport infrastructure, the government is prioritising development of micro or drip irrigation in the water deficient regions of the country. Thirteen river linking projects are on the anvil, of which, three will be achieved within three months.