CHENNAI: The Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) has picked Chennai-based Sical Logistics-led consortium to set up a rail terminal as part of the proposed multi-modal international hub airport at Nagpur. A letter of intent has already been issued by MADC to the Sical-led team. The other member of the consortium is Nagpur-based Gupta Coal India Ltd.

The rail terminal will be developed on the build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis on a 24-hectare plot on lease for 66 years. It will have a capacity to handle 150,000 TEU (twenty equivalent units) a year. The proposed rail terminal will consist of a container freight station with neutral rail siding and will have handling infrastructure for export-import, domestic bulk and containerised cargo. These will be built in phases in line with client's needs and Sical's own container train requirements.

The terminal is expected to go operational in the first quarter of 2008-09.

A special purpose vehicle is proposed to be formed with Sical Logistics owning at least 51 per cent of the equity and MADC 26 per cent. Gupta Coal will hold the remaining equity.

The Vice-Chairman of Sical Logistics, Ashwin Muthiah, said in a release that the Nagpur rail terminal was central to the company's plan for leadership in multi-modal logistics. "Nagpur's central location has always made it a critical part of the strategy of every Indian logistics provider. The airport hub project and related infrastructure such as the rail terminal will add several dimensions of commerce not just to Nagpur and its surroundings. It will also help significantly in streamlining the logistics chains of businesses across India," the release quoted Mr. Muthiah as saying.

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