LOGISTICS AT SUPER FAST SPEED

Integrated networks of high-speed rail, freight corridors and waterways are set to reduce costs, improve mobility and drive regional growth

- By AVISHEK G. DASTIDAR

At a time when logistics costs remain a drag on competitiveness, the budget makes its priorities unmistakable. It seeks to compress distance—economically—by building parallel high-capacity networks for passengers and freight and integrating rail, road and waterways into a unified connectivity grid. These, in the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s words, are the “growth connectors”.

At the heart of this vision are three mega plans—seven new high-speed rail (HSR) corridors, a new East-West Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) and 20 more national waterways. While the budget has not specified matching allocations, sources in the know peg the combined cost at around Rs 16 lakh crore over the next few years.