Tamil Nadu is accelerating its push to emerge as a logistics gateway on the south coast with the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Sipcot) inviting bids to appoint a consultant for a multimodal logistics park in Thoothukudi. The park will be developed on 173 acres under a public-private partnership model with a 60-year concession period aimed at attracting long-term private investment in logistics and warehousing. Sipcot has earmarked the land and will provide basic infrastructure up to the project boundary. The basic infrastructure package will include roads, water supply, stormwater drainage, power and street lighting and is intended to lower initial capital expenditure for the concessionaire. The facility is expected to function as a regional freight aggregation hub by leveraging Thoothukudi's road and rail connectivity to enable seamless multimodal cargo movement. The master plan envisages a comprehensive logistics ecosystem comprising domestic and bonded warehousing, container and cargo yards, truck terminals and parking bays, railway siding and freight terminals, cold storage facilities, utility zones and driver amenities. The selected bidder, either a single entity or a consortium, will form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) and enter into a long-term concession agreement with Sipcot and will be responsible for end-to-end development including design, engineering, financing, construction, operations and maintenance. The initiative forms part of a broader strategy to position Thoothukudi as a key logistics hub after Chennai and Coimbatore, anchored around the planned expansion of VOC Port. Officials expect the proposed Rs 60 billion (bn) outer harbour project to strengthen the port's prospects as a transshipment hub. The concession structure and long tenure are intended to attract long-horizon investors and to support ancillary services with limited commercial and plug-and-play spaces proposed in the layout. The tendering for a consultant marks the next step in the implementation pathway and will inform detailed design and procurement timelines. Stakeholders view the project as likely to boost regional logistics capacity and employment while improving freight efficiency along the south coast.