Tiruchi Member of Parliament Durai Vaiko’s meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday has raised the hope of establishing a dry port, an inland container depot, in Tiruchi.
It has been a long-felt need of the trade and industry of the region as Tiruchi has emerged as one of the fastest-growing export hubs in the State. A wide range of goods, including engineering equipment, spare parts, fabricated material, food products, millets, and perishables such as vegetables and fruits are exported. While the exporters use the excellent air connectivity from Tiruchi to export vegetables and fruits, they depend on Chennai, Thoothukudi, Karaikal, or Kochi port to export other items.
It is estimated that about 40 to 50 containers, each with a capacity of 25 tonnes, are transported by road every month from Tiruchi to these seaports. Industrialists and exporters from the region face high transport and handling costs, along with time-consuming formalities at the ports. Exporters are of the view that if a dry port is established in Tiruchi, they can complete the required documentation and other procedures locally, significantly reducing cost and time.
Tiruchi MP Durai Vaiko had taken up the issue with the Finance Minister during his meeting on August 21 in New Delhi and impressed upon her the need to establish a dry port. He also subsequently met Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal and a few other Ministers in New Delhi. They reportedly told him that the Union government would do the needful if suitable land was allotted for establishing a dry port in Tiruchi. The MP later met Tiruchi Collector V. Saravanan and urged him to take steps to allot 21 acres of land.
However, there has been no progress on the proposal apparently due to some issues in identifying the land. Considering the availability of a large tract of land owned by the Tiruchi Corporation at Panjapur, which is located on the Tiruchi-Madurai Highway, and the availability of many unallocated plots at the SIPCOT industrial park near Manapparai on the Tiruchi-Dindigul Highway, Mr. Durai Vaiko is pressing for a land on a highway as it could serve well to the industrial units being set up at the SIPCOT complex.
Mr. Durai Vaiko, who is in Delhi to attend the ongoing Parliament session, met Ms. Sitharaman on Monday again and impressed upon her Ministry to send a formal communication to the State government on its readiness to set up the facility in Tiruchi. She reportedly assured him that her Ministry would do the needful as early as possible.
Mr. Durai Vaiko said that the Minister’s response was positive. It had raised the hope of establishing the facility. He would again meet the State government officials on the issue of land allotment and closely monitor the progress of it.
Published – December 02, 2025 08:17 pm IST
