National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has signed an agreement with a private company to develop a Rs 673 crore Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) in Nagpur spread over an area of 150 acres, a statement said on Tuesday.

The park, to be developed in a public private partnership mode, has DC Multi Modal Park (Nagpur) as the partner—a special purpose vehicle floated by DeltaBulk Shipping India. The project is poised to be the first MMLP in Maharashtra under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.

Nagpur logistics park is the fifth to be awarded under the plan. In September the agreement was signed for a 400-acre multimodal logistics park (MMLP) at Bengaluru that will cost Rs 1770 crore.

Others are located in Chennai and Indore. The park at Jogighopa near Guwahati in Assam is under implementation at the cost of Rs 693 crore and is expected to be completed this year.

Development of MMLP is a key initiative of the Government of India to improve the country’s freight logistics sector by enabling efficient inter-modal freight movement to lower overall freight costs and time, provide efficient warehousing, improve tracking and traceability of consignments thereby enhancing the efficiency of the Indian logistics sector.

The Nagpur MMLP will be developed in three phases. The Phase-I with an investment of Rs. 137 crore is expected to be completed in two years. The site is strategically located at a distance of around 3 km from Nagpur – Mumbai Maha-Samruddhi Mahamarg on one side and Howrah – Nagpur – Mumbai rail line on other side. Rail siding of length 3.0 km from Sindi Railway station in Howrah-Nagpur- Mumbai rail line is substantially completed. The MMLP is also being provided access from four lane Nagpur – Aurangabad, NH 361. The site is 48 km from Nagpur International Airport and 56 km from Nagpur railway station.