Sources indicated that DP World has acquired a 49 per
cent stake in the joint venture and has also taken nearly two lakh sq ft of
warehousing space within the logistics park. Both Reliance Industries and DP
World declined to comment on the development.
In a further sign
of DP World’s deeper involvement in the project, Ajay Moghe — associated with
the DP World group since 2017 — was appointed Chief Executive Officer of
Chennai Global Logistics Park Ltd in January this year, sources added. The logistics park currently houses five
warehouses, with three already having onboarded clients, according to people
aware of the matter. Spread across
184.27 acres in Tiruvallur district near Chennai, the project was originally
conceptualised around 14 years ago but faced several delays, including issues
related to village access roads and infrastructure connectivity.
In 2022, Reliance Industries won the bid for the
₹1,424-crore project, beating the Adani Group. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
laid the foundation stone for the project on May 26, 2022. A
pre-feasibility report had highlighted the strategic importance of the
logistics park as a cargo consolidation hub catering to secondary industrial
clusters such as Ranipet, Ambur, Tiruppur and Bengaluru. These regions host
industries spanning leather, heavy engineering, automobiles, cement, sugar and
chemicals.
The park is also
located close to the Sriperumbudur-Oragadam automobile and electronics
manufacturing corridor and near the Chennai Peripheral Ring Road. Industry
sources said the project’s long-term success would depend heavily on dedicated
rail connectivity between Mappedu and Chennai’s ports to improve cargo
evacuation efficiency and reduce logistics costs.