WDFC To Cut Logistics Costs To 7 Pc, Give India An Edge Over China: Maha CM

(MENAFN- IANS) Uran (Maharashtra), Sep 8 (IANS) Terming the inauguration of the JNPT–New Umargam stretch of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) a transformative milestone, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday asserted that the corridor will drastically alter India's freight transportation landscape and position the country as a direct contender to China in cost-effective global logistics.

This will help bring down the logistics cost to 7 per cent from 10 per cent, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dedicated the key section of the Rs 1.3 lakh crore infrastructure megaproject to the nation. Spanning 1,500 km across five states -- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh -- the freight corridor is set to seamlessly link northern India with the country's Western coastline.

Fadnavis emphasised that prior to 2014, India's logistics costs stood at 14 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), whereas China operated at around 7 per cent.

Over the last decade under PM Modi's leadership, India reduced this overhead to 10 per cent. With the WDFC fully operationalised, logistics costs are projected to drop by 7 per cent, cementing India's status as a global manufacturing and supply chain hub while generating massive employment opportunities.

Currently, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPT) in Uran handles over 55 per cent of India's total container traffic. Projections indicate JNPT will surpass several million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units) capacity in the coming years, said the CM.

The CM noted that the upcoming Vadhavan Port -- designed to be three times larger than JNPT -- alongside the WDFC, will establish Maharashtra as an unassailable maritime and logistics powerhouse in the region.

According to government sources, about 70-80 per cent of the corridor's capacity is designed for ISO import-export (EXIM) container traffic moving between North Indian Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and Western ports (JNPT, Mundra, Pipavav).

It will move fertilisers, food grains, salt, coal, POL (petroleum products), cement, and industrial goods. The corridor will serve as the primary logistics backbone for the Delhi–Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), facilitating multi-modal logistics parks (MMLPs) and industrial nodes along its alignment.

Major funding support is provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

MENAFN08092026000231011071ID1111634984