Demand for establishing dry port in Tiruchi gathers momentum

Though the Trade and industrial forums continue to raise the demand for establishing a dry port in Tiruchi, it is yet to become a reality.

Tiruchi is one of the important regions in the State that exports various items including engineering equipment, vegetables, fruits and others. According to the National Horticulture Database released by the National Horticulture Board of India, Tiruchi produced 112.62 million metric tonnes of fruits and 204.96 million metric tonnes of vegetables in 2023-24. While exporters prefer to export engineering products through sea ports in the State, some vegetables and fruits are exported to Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and others by flights.

Though the exporters of perishable commodities prefer to send to their overseas clients by flights form Tiruchi, value-added agricultural products such as foods, millets ad biscuits are being exported through Chennai, Tuticorin and Cochin ports. Similarly, spare parts of auto mobiles, fabricated materials and other engineering products are exported through Chennai and Tuticorin.

According to an estimate, 40 to 50 containers, measuring 25 tonnes each, are transported by roads to the seaports for exporting to various countries per month from Tiruchi. Industrialists and exporters find it difficult to transport their products by spending huge amounts to sea ports. They are of the view that if Inland Container Depot (dry port) is established in Tiruchi the exporters can complete the process of exporting them in Tiruchi itself, thereby saving huge sum and energy.

“The volume of exports from Tiruchi continues to register upward trends. It takes at least a week for the exporters to complete the formalities at the sea port. The establishment of dry port in Tiruchi will facilitate the exporters to complete the process quickly,” says G. Sathish Kumar, secretary, Export, Import Federation, Tiruchi.

The exporters says the dry port will bolster the region’s logistics infrastructure to support industrial development and export growth. They point out that the dry port established near Tiruppur has turned out to be a great support for the exporters of Tiruppur and Coimbatore to send their consignments to their overseas claims.

Kanagasabapathy, former Chairman, Tiruchi Trade Centre, said that various industrial forums had been fighting for the establishment of dry port in Tiruchi for so far. It required at least 100 acre for the facility. The State and Central governments should take effective steps to fulfil the demand. It could be established at SIPCOT industrial park near Manapparai or at a convenient place with highway access.