Tiruchy District Administration Explores Land Pooling to Push Long-Pending Dry Port Project

Tiruchy:

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File photo of stakeholders meeting the local MP Durai Vaiko with representation. (Image credit: Durai Vaiko FB Page)

The Tiruchy District Administration is exploring land pooling schemes to advance the long-pending proposal for a dry port, or inland container depot (ICD), in Tiruchy, according to a news report published in leading daily The New Indian Express.

Officials said that once a land parcel is identified, it will be, with the state government’s consent, used to prepare a detailed proposal to be placed before the Union government for approval.

A dry port is an inland facility connected to seaports by road or rail, enabling exporters to complete containerisation, customs clearance, documentation, storage and cargo handling closer to production units. In the absence of such a facility, exporters from Tiruchy and surrounding districts are forced to complete such procedures at the seaports such as Chennai, Thoothukudi and Kochi after transportation of the goods, increasing logistics costs and turnaround time.

Currently, Tamil Nadu has major dry ports in Tiruppur and Hosur, apart from a few smaller ICDs near the Chennai Port. Tiruchy and neighbouring districts export a range of products like engineering equipment, spare parts, rice, spices, agro-chemicals, millets, floricultural produce and perishables such as fruits and vegetables.

While the Tiruchy international airport is effectively used for exporting fruit and vegetables to destinations including Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Qatar and the UAE, most non-perishable cargo continu to be transported by road to faraway ports.

According to the Export and Import Federation of Tiruchy, the district recorded exports worth $142 million during financial year 2024-25.

“Exports from the region have been growing by about 5% annually over the past five years, particularly food products and engineering goods,” said federation secretary M Sathish.

Pointing to a Union government announcement made in late 2024 indicating plans to expand the number of dry ports across the country, he sought the proposed ICD in Tiruchy function as a regional hub serving neighbouring districts as well.

Meanwhile, P Rajappa, president of the Tiruchy district tiny and small scale industries association (TIDITSSIA), said an ICD would strengthen hinterland connectivity and complement the state government’s proposed seaport project in Nagapattinam. Ajay Jayaraj, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Tiruchy, said several micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are currently unable to access export markets.

“Smaller players who cannot afford full container loads are sidelined. A local ICD would facilitate less-than-container-load shipments and open global markets to hundreds of MSMEs in the Thuvakudi and Mathur industrial belts,” he added.

Logistics costs could also be reduced by 15-20% through single-window customs clearance and local containerisation, he further said. Pointing to the Sipcot industrial park at Manapparai, Jayaraj said industry bodies have urged the government to identify around 21 acres of land, preferably near the Manapparai-Dindigul highway, to create a plug-and-play ecosystem for investors.

Tiruchy MP Durai Vaiko had reiterated the need to fast-track the project during his recent meeting with Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitharaman. Nearly 100 containers, each weighing about 25 tonnes, are moved every month from Tiruchy to distant ports, he told the minister. When contacted, the MP told TNIE that talks are under way with the district administration to finalise land for the ICD project at the earliest.