A national logistics policy was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, which aims to reduce transportation costs and improve the sector’s global performance.
As part of the launch of this policy last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that “we should all strive to bring logistics costs to single digits as soon as possible, from 13-14 percent (of the GDP).
It is intended that the policy will reduce logistics costs in India so that it can meet global benchmarks by 2030. Furthermore, the plan aims to improve India’s ranking in the Logistics Performance Index from 44th in 2018 globally; and to develop a data-driven decision support system for an efficient logistics ecosystem.
Anurag Thakur, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, informed reporters that the government is targeting a ranking of India among the top 25 countries by 2030.
Monitoring of the implementation of the policy will be carried out through the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) under the PM Gati Shakti national master plan.
Also, a Services Improvement Group will be established for monitoring the parameters of processes, regulatory changes, and technological advancements in the logistics industry.
The implementation of the policy will emphasize the development of warehouses, the promotion of standards, and the implementation of digitization and automation across the logistics value chain.
There are several critical initiatives under the policy, including the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP), the Ease of Logistics Services platform, and the e-handbook on warehousing.
The logistics policies of fourteen states have already been developed, and those of thirteen states are at the drafting stage.
