The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) in New Delhi today, for the development of a multi-modal logistics park in the Ponneri Industrial Node area near Kamarajar Port in Tamil Nadu.

The MoU was signed in the presence of the Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari and M C Sampath, Minister for Industries of Tamil Nadu government.

Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari said that it is an important agreement for the development of an integrated, multi-modal transport infrastructure in the country.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is planning to develop multi-modal logistics parks under its Logistics Efficiency Enhancement Programme (LEEP) in 15 locations all over India at a cost of Rs 33,000 crore, including a Rs 1,295 crore investment for the Chennai region. The aim of the proposed logistics parks is to bring down overall freight and warehousing costs, and also reduce vehicular pollution and congestion, thereby leading to lower logistics costs.