JNPT ropes in firms for faster delivery on five routes

Starting next month, the Direct Port Delivery (DPD) to streamline and reduce cargo movement will get a fillip at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

The port authorities have finalised four logistics players for handling cargo on five transport routes, the tendering process for which had started a year ago.

At present, around 38% of cargo gets cleared or routed via DPD and port authorities, as well as customs department, are aiming to take this to 70% with the help of setting up transport agencies on specified routes.

DPD helps consignees or importers cut freight costs and save as much as five days as the cargo gets delivered directly to their factories rather than being held at container freight stations in the port area.

A dozen logistics companies had come forward with their bids, of which four have been selected - JWC Logistics Park Pvt Ltd for two routes, Vora Transfreight Services, Royal Translines Pvt Ltd and Ekta Enterprises.

These companies will ferry twenty-foot equivalents (TEUs) or containers imported from the JN Port.

The five transport routes are JNPT-Gujarat, JNPT-Goa-Bengaluru, JNPT-Nashik-Aurangabad-Nagpur-Indore-Hyderabad, JNPT-Ahmednagar and JNPT-Mumbai Metropolitan Region (local region). On a conservative side, the estimated volumes for each of these routes are 1,73,156 TEUs, 77,376 TEUs, 65,725 TEUs, 1,08,725 TEUs and 1,55,765 TEUs, respectively.

Talking about the initiative, chairman-in-charge Neeraj Bansal said that the facility will roll out starting May 1.

"The DPD facility had been made available at JNPT for more than a year, but this time it would be implemented in a more structured manner for anyone opting for our DPD service," said Bansal.