Freight Village in Varanasi

The Ministry of Shipping has approved the development of Rs. 156 crore freight village in Varanasi adjoining theInland Waterways Terminal on River Ganga.

The Varanasi freight village will be developed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India.

Benefits:

• It will serve as a cargo hub, and a centre for aggregation and value addition.
• It will also provide support to stimulate development of a professional logistics industry in Varanasi.

What is a Freight Village?

• A freight village is a designated area where facilities for various modes of transportation, distribution of goods and other logistics are available in a synchronized manner on a large scale.
• Freight villages are cargo aggregators, offers various logistic choices to a shipper/cargo owner; i.e. choice of railroad; rail-waterway; road-waterway.

Major Function:

The main function is management and utilization of various modes of transport, synergizing them and decongesting the existing mode of transportation.

World Bank Study:

• A World Bank pre-feasibility study has found Varanasi to be a suitable site for the freight village.
• The traffic volume on inland waterway is expected to increase with the commissioning of the multi modal terminal being built under the Jal Marg Vikas project.

Inland Waterways Authority of India:

It came into existence on 27^th October 1986 for development and regulation of inland waterways for shipping and navigation. The Authority primarily undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWT infrastructure on national waterways through grant received from Ministry of Shipping.

Source: PIB