Concor plans full-fledged CFS

Durgapur: The Container Corporation of India (Concor) has a proposal to convert its domestic terminal, now under construction in Durgapur (West Bengal), into a full-fledged container freight station (CFS). The reason: Cargo inducement, including exports, appears encouraging. The private sector CFS, already operating in the area, is believed to be doing well. Concor has acquired 30 acres of land from the local administration at Durgapur to set up the terminal (to be developed into a CFS) and would spend around Rs 7.5 crore on it. Meanwhile, Concor is also going ahead with its plan to set up yet another CFS within the Kolkata Dock System (KDS). As per rule, a port-based CFS must have at least one acre of land; Concor has much more than that in the port area. More important, it has full length railways sidings. Only a few years ago, when the terminal was launched in the KDS, Concor had to denotify its existing CFS at Cossipore. Now, it has to go through the process all over again of obtaining clearance from the Inter-Ministerial Committee headed by the Commerce Secretary for setting up a new CFS. Concor is hopeful of getting an early clearance.