India’s ₹660 Crore Sindi Dry Port Dream Hits a Major Roadblock. What Really Went Wrong?

A massive setback to the multimodal infrastructure plans of India is the Sindi Dry Port project of the Maharashtra Wardha district. According to reports, the National Highways Logistics Management Limited (NHLML) has cancelled its 360 crore agreement with the United Kingdom based Delta Corp Holdings on account of non-performance and inability to meet important deadlines of the project.

Sindi Dry Port, which is a project of the PM Gati Shakti initiative, was planned as a state of the art Multimodal Logistics Park (MMLP) to reduce logistics congestion levels in the region, reduce logistics expenses, and enhance trade in the region. The facility is spread across 150 acres, and is planned to bring road, rail, and air transport together, and Nagpur will be a central logistics point in the heart of India.

Nonetheless, according to industry observers, the project has been beset by schedule slips and problems of coordination since the beginning. Even after the acquisition of land and groundworks was done, the project did not proceed because of contractual differences and breach of performance standards by the concessionaire.

The officials of NHLML have verified that they are negotiating to restart a tender of the project or leave the development to the government body, relying on future feasibility studies.

The reason is still to guarantee continuity of the project without making any compromise regarding quality or timelines, said a senior NHLML representative to Logistics Insider.

The experts reckon that such development may have broader ramifications to the multimodal logistics vision in India since the Sindi Dry Port should have been an exemplary example of other projects under the Bharatmala and Sagarmala program.

Otherwise, unless these setbacks are turned around in the near future, the lost impetus in the driving force of integrated logistics infrastructure in India may become demoralized.

Until today, the Sindi Dry Port, which used to be regarded as the jewel of the Indian logistics system, is a representation of aspirations trapped in red tape awaiting a new lease of life.

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