Railway Minister Lays Foundation for First Automobile Logistics Hub at Shalimar
Mamata Banerjee, the country's Railway Minister, today laid the foundation for the country's first ever automobile logistics hub at Shalimar in Howrah, while simultaneously announcing that similar hubs will be, over the coming time, set up at nine more places across the country.
“After this, we will set up automobile hubs at Siliguri, Guwahati, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kerala, Bangalore and Delhi as a pilot project in collaboration with Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM)", Minister Banerjee said.
Expected to generate revenue of Rs. 1,000 crore every year, the hub would serve as an area's main logistics station where automobiles from factories across the country would be brought together for the purpose of local distribution. If the automobile industry displays enough interest in the project, the Minister shared that similar hubs would steadily be constructed at all major railway zones across the country.
Once the logistics hubs are fully operational, Ms. Banerjee has shared that the railways would be able to hike its revenue share in the automobile sector from the current 2% to as much as 15%. Representatives from the country's various major automobile manufacturers, including Maruti, TVS, Hyundai, Hero Honda and Tata Motors, were present at the function where the Minster said that if all goes according to the plan, the railways' share could go up-to as much as a whopping 50% in the near future.
