“Proposal to designate Sri City as a dry port under review”: Union Minister

Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal. File. | Photo credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said in the Lok Sabha on July 23 that the proposal to designate the town of Sri in Tirupati district as a dry port is being examined by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Customs.

Responding to a question on creation of export-import logistics infrastructure (inland container depots and container freight stations) in Andhra Pradesh (AP) by Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath on July 23, Mr. Sonowal said that the Inter-Ministerial Committee has approved proposals for eight new dry ports, including active nine new ports, including Fatehpur and another center in Telangana. These include Sri City in AP and Chityala in Telangana.

He informed the House that dry ports were to be sanctioned based on the logistics density of states, with AP being placed in the blue zone, in which priority is given to setting up new dry ports in specific areas where industrial demand is high but infrastructure is limited.

To protect the economic viability of dry ports, new greenfield projects would not be allowed within 100 kilometers of each other, and rail ICDs were only favored if the transit distance from a seaport was more than 200 kilometers.

The minister clarified that the central government is committed to reduce freight costs and connect the Telugu states to the international-standard logistics network, noting that Sri City has been key to AP’s economic growth.

Published – 25 Jul 2026 12:36 IST