Madhya Pradesh plans air cargo hub

The country’s air cargo sector, it appears, is set for an upswing. Reports have said that in partnership with private firms, the Madhya Pradesh Government is mulling to set up an air cargo hub either at Bhopal or at Indore on over 500 hectares being identified close to the existing airports.

The decision comes close on the heels of the proposal to have a huge multimodal cargo hub at Nagpur, signifying that the country’s central part is holding out much promise for such facilities.

It is learnt that Chennai, too, is waiting for the commissioning of the new air cargo complex. Spread over 58,000 sq mt, the new facility, to be complete with automatic storage and retrieval system, is expected to handle 60,000 tonnes annually, up from the present 25,000 tonnes or so.

The jump in present capacity, it is hoped, will help serve more carriers, including exclusive freighters better. The new complexes will certainly address the vexed issue of warehousing capacity constraint.

However, unless other issues like the seamless inter-modal connectivity, standardisation and rationalisation of processes and procedures also receive due attention, mere construction of some buildings and installation of some equipment will not yield the desired benefits.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-logistics/madhya-pradesh-plans-air-cargo-hub/article4065218.ece