CONCOR to build Inland Container Depot for Railways at Kadakola with Rs. 100 crore

Mysore/Mysuru: The much-awaited and ambitious work on Inland Container Depot for Railways at Kadakola near Nanjangud by Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) began officially this morning. This will be the third Container Yard in Karnataka by CONCOR after Whitefield in Bengaluru and Mangaluru.

The formal inauguration ceremony was held at Hotel Sandesh The Prince in Nazarbad of Mysuru instead of the actual work site as the code of conduct is in force for the forthcoming Gram Panchayat (GP) elections. After today’s inauguration, the works will begin for Rs. 100 crore project. At the hotel, a trade meet and an interactive session on the proposed Multi-Modal Logistics Park was held today.

The formal inauguration was led by Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha, CONCOR General Manager Anup Dayanand Sadhu, Mysuru Divisional Railway Manager Rahul Agarwal in the presence of Mysore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President A.S. Satish and a group of over 25 industries.

24 month project

Of the Rs. 100 crore, Rs. 20 crore has been spent on land acquisition and Rs. 55 crore will be spent on civil works. The target for completion of project is 24 months. Tenders have been floated and the actual works will begin today, the MP said.

The District Administration through Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) had acquired 55 acres of land in Survey Numbers 480-517 in 2011, 2012 and 2013 from 54 farmers. These 55 acres was allotted to CONCOR to set up the inland container depot. But farmers were demanding compensation and a permanent job for a family member at the depot. 

The issue with farmers have been sorted out with the help of Mysuru DC and SP and there are no hurdles for the works to begin, the MP said. CONCOR has purchased 55 acres of land by negotiating at Rs. 35 lakh per acre.

Big boost to industries

The depot will be on the lines of one which already exists at Whitefield in Bengaluru. Once the depot becomes a reality, it will be a big boost to industries. For Customs Duty, they need not go to Ports as all formalities will be done at the depot and a separate office of Customs will be set up, the MP said. 

Apart from this, two Railway lines, loading line and engine escape line, will be set up. They will be controlled by Kadakola Railway Station. This would not only give a boost to exports from the region but also reduce the lead time taken to ship the containers to the Ports.

Safer and more reliable

Mysuru has industries like Nestle, TVS, South India Paper Mills and it is an industry and IT companies hub. At present, most of the cargo meant for exports is sent to Chennai Port by road which adds to cost and time whereas the CONCOR facility at Kadakola will provide a safer and more reliable alternative to road. 

Products that are exported from the region include general engineering products, coffee, electronic items and agro-based products. The depot will have good warehouse facility which will come up in an area of 1,000 sq.mts.

“We believe in total connectivity and this project will complement the Bengaluru-Mysuru 10-lane highway project, Mysuru-Madikeri new National Highway 275 from Srirangapatna, improved air connectivity with over nine flights, improved rail network with track doubling,” Pratap Simha said. 

The project envisages rail-siding, state-of-the-art warehousing, truck parking area besides facility for Customs clearances for export and import cargo. There is immense potential of starting almost 15 trains a month to various ports including Mangalore Port and Chennai Port immensely benefiting the Industries based in Mysuru and Nanjangud, he added.