The Union government recently gave its nod to develop Rs 156 crore freight hub in Varanasi adjoining the inland waterways terminal on river Ganga to boost the logistics industry. A freight village is a designated area where facilities for various modes of transportation, distribution of goods and other logistics are available in a synchronized manner on a large scale. The Varanasi freight village will be developed by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). The freight village "will serve as a cargo hub and a centre for aggregation and value addition. It will also provide support to stimulate the development of a professional logistics industry in the holy city. A World Bank pre-feasibility study has found Varanasi to be a suitable site for the freight village as the city is located strategically and is a focal point in the logistics chain of Eastern Transport Corridor of the country where the National Waterways-1, Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC), National Highway-7 and National Highway-2 pass through.
