TN releases policies on logistics and ethanol blending

CHENNAI: The State government on Saturday released separate policies for logistics, city gas distribution and ethanol blending.

The Tamil Nadu Logistics Policy and Integrated Logistics Plan 2023 released by Chief Minister M K Stalin proposed to assess connectivity gaps vis-à-vis existing industrial clusters, agricultural aggregation/processing centres, fisheries/marine and animal husbandry clusters and prioritize development of road connectivity.

The State logistics policy also proposes to earmark an appropriate land parcel in upcoming industrial parks/estates/clusters in the State by accommodating manufacturing and processing units for the development of truck terminals, preferably through private participation.

Among the ideas envisaged in the policy are identification of unutilised factory sheds within existing industrial parks/estates/clusters in the state and make them available for logistics activities, wherever feasible and earmarking land parcels (minimum 50 acres) at strategic locations in the state for development of multimodal logistic parks/logistic park/warehousing clusters/private freight terminal.

Under the policy, identification of locations/clusters for development and strengthening of cold chain infrastructure has also been conceived. The state government would also assess and identify pilot routes for development of dedicated high-capacity rail freight corridors in the state in coordination with the ministry of railways.

The state level City Gas Distribution (CGD) policy aims to promote the adoption of natural gas by the state as a green and clean fuel and ensure faster implementation of CGD infrastructure in the state besides developing applicable rules/regulations to encourage the use of natural gas for the industrial/commercial, transport and household purposes in a phased manner.

The policy guidelines have been issued to facilitate time-bound permissions by all state departments concerned, standardization of permission issuance mechanism and pipeline laying methodology. According to the policy, CGD is under implementation in seven geographical areas covering 15 districts and nearly 2.28 crore domestic connections and around 2,785 CNG stations will be developed in the state in the coming years post-expansion of CGD to all 38 districts in the State.

The Ethanol Blending Policy has been formulated and released with the objective of improving farmer income through price realization and expansion in opportunities, revive the sugar industry in the state through improved utilisation of existing mills and enhance import substitution through indigenous sourcing and production of fuel grade ethanol and mitigate climate change risks and support diversification through reduction in air pollution arising from fossil fuels.