The new logistics policy approved earlier this month by India’s Maharashtra state is expected to generate half a million direct and indirect jobs and ₹30,573 crore ($3.64 billion) in revenues within a decade.
The policy will help develop over 10,000 acres of logistics infrastructure, including an international and a national mega logistics hub, five state logistics and regional logistics hubs each, and 25 district logistics nodes near ports and linear infrastructure in the state, according to media reports from the state.
It will help reduce logistics costs for international and domestic trade by 4-5 per cent from 14-15 per cent now and boost investments in the logistics and warehousing sector in the state.
The previous such policy of 2018 focused on developing logistics parks.
Bhiwandi near Mumbai is more of a storage centre now, but will be developed in a more comprehensive manner. The logistics hubs will be aligned with highways and ports.
The international mega logistics hub will be developed over 2,000 acres near the underway international airport at Navi Mumbai. The Nagpur-Wardha national mega logistics hub will come up on 1,500 acres near the Samruddhi expressway, which links Mumbai to Nagpur.
Five more state mega logistics hubs will be developed on 500-acre land parcels at Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad)-Jalna, Thane-Bhiwandi, Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Pune-Purandar and Palghar-Vadhwan.