KOCHI: The first Container Freight Station (CFS) on the premises of the International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT) is expected to be operational in the first week of May. The Customs authorities have issued permission to Gateway Distriparks (Kerala) (GDKL) to start customs activities at the CFS being set up at Vallarpadam.With this, the GDKL can store export/import containers, conduct customs inspections and other shipping-related procedures at the CFS, (which is located right in front of ICTT), making it the first operational CFS in Vallarpadam island.“We have obtained the clearance and expect to start operations by May first week. Now, we are waiting for the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) connectivity which is expected to be available in a couple of days,” GDKL authorities said.The Central Government had earlier this year issued clearance for the CFS being set up by GDKL, a joint venture company floated by Gateway Distriparks and Chakiat Group. The container freight station is coming up on the land allotted by the Cochin Port Trust on lease.The CFS spread across an area of approximately 25,000 sqft and storage facilities for around 1,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot equivalent unit) and a Customs station will have warehousing facilities. Aimed at developing Vallarpadam into a major logistics hub, the Cochin Port Trust has earmarked 54 acres of land near the ICTT for developing CFSs. The Centre has also given its nod for another CFS being set up by the state-owned Infrastructure Kerala Ltd (INKEL) and MIV Logistics Private Ltd.The CFS being developed by the INKEL is coming up on 18.5 acres of land on the road leading to the Vallarpadam Church.The Port Trust authorities have said that commencement of operations of a CFS is a major step towards developing Vallarpadam into a logistics hub.
Comments
0 comment