Deccan to set up Indian farmers' cargo hub at Nagpur (Mihan) Airport

DECCAN Cargo Pvt Ltd has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Maharashtra Airports Development Company (MADC) to establish a cargo hub at Nagpur (Mihan) Airport. The facility is expected to open before January 2009.

MADC has agreed to provide 50 acres of land at Mihan for Deccan Cargo to set up a state-of-the-art cargo hub including a parking facility.

Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, who is chairman of MADC, said in a report by The Times of India that the cargo facility would enable Vidarbha's farmers to airlift their produce to overseas markets where they could fetch higher prices than at home.

Captain Gopinath of Deccan Cargo said that so far only seven cities in India have air cargo connectivity. "Industry's production cost comes down by 25 per cent if the country has air connectivity. Industries have to spend less on inventories and warehouses with air cargo connectivity," he said.

He added that Deccan would make Nagpur the cargo hub for India, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Europe.