New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release India’s national logistics policy aimed at promoting a seamless movement of goods across the country, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on September 13. “The government has emphasized on the need to reduce logistics costs in the country from the current levels of 13-14 percent of GDP,” the minister said.
Commenting on how the policy will be instrumental in cutting logistics cost and speeding investments, Arindam Guha of Deloitte India said, ‘Till 2 years back the countries logistics cost was 14% of GDP vis a vis 8-10% in matured economies & so this is an integral part of attracting private investors into the country. Speaking of the multiple initiatives taken in the sector like the Gati Shakti, National single window mechanism, he feels that the national logistics policy is the final link in the chain”.
The policy is going to be a game changer for the logistics sector with the expected focus areas to be on process re-engineering, digitization, multi-modal transport. Vineet Agarwal, MD, TCI believes that they will be among the front runners to take advantage of the policy and ULIP (Unified logistics interface platform) that will have all the modes of transportation in terms of visibility for their customers and since they are on the path of digital transformation, ensuring that they have this logistics interface available to them, will help them capitalize not just on the hard assets like transportation but also the soft side like the documentation etc. He also spoke about his capex plans of Rs. 300 Cr in the multi-modal space to make the most of the opportunities specially post the policy.
The policy is being brought in line with PM’s ambitious Gati Shakti, a national plan that was launched to build robust infrastructure, fill the missing gaps in logistics and draw more investments into the country.
