Port Wings Window to Maritime World
*This story has been updated by including few more quotes from the industry.
Chennai:
Port Wings News Network:
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi launched the National Logistics Policy (NLP) at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 17 September. Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister called the launch of the National Logistics Policy a significant step in fulfilling the ‘Pran’ of India being a developed country.
Below are the comments / reaction quotes on National Logistics Policy by industry players.
Mr Shankar Shinde, Chairman-FFFAI
“Let me take this opportunity and welcome the much-desired National Logistics Policy (NLP) which was unveiled by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on September 17, 2022 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The land-marking NLP has an aim to bring down the present logistics cost to single digit to make India one of the lucrative manufacturing hubs in the world. Hence there will be new opportunities for the Logistics industry and support trade with seamless movement of cargo across all modes of transport thereby leveraging through PM Gati Shakti initiatives with introduction of ULIP digital E-Logs to be at speed of Cheetahs.
We appreciate Hon’ble PM in taking a holistic approach with efforts culminating eight years of hard work efforts to yield results.
The Key objectives of these initiatives were to expedite cargo clearance, Ease of Doing Business and improvement of the Logistics Performance Index of the country to adopt best practices to compete world standards with first and last mile connectivity. We look forward to active role participation in such new initiatives.”
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Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, Operating Partner (Infrastructure), Essar and Managing Director, Essar Ports
“National Logistics Policy 2022 which forms part of the Honourable PM’s Gati Shakti Plan is a welcome move which will not only make India competitive but also boost logistics efficiency through interconnectivity and tech based integrated ecosystem. The policy lays the platform where efficiency in services and processes is at the core and can pave way for India becoming a global manufacturing powerhouse. It has the potential to set a domino effect which may very well boost India’s journey to USD 5 trillion economy and more at Cheetah speeds.”
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Sahil Barua, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Delhivery
“The Government has been consistent in its efforts to enable an efficient ecosystem to boost the efficiency of the Indian logistics sector, both domestically and internationally. We congratulate the Government on introducing the National Logistics Policy, which will hold the key to achieving the grand vision laid out by the Prime Minister.
The NLP rightly focuses on leveraging technology to achieve the vision of bringing down India’s logistics costs. We firmly believe that this will have a direct impact on improving the overall competitiveness of the Indian industry globally, thereby fueling the journey towards becoming a USD 5 trillion economy. Delhivery has always been a tech-focused company, and we stand committed to realizing this grand vision laid out by the PM. We will double down on our investments in building cutting-edge infrastructure, technology, data science, and engineering capabilities to lead the development of the logistics industry in India.”
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Mr. Prem Kishan Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Gateway Distriparks:
“The National Logistics Policy announced is a big step towards policy reforms of logistics sector creating a unified platform for all the different stakeholders in the sector to come together on one platform, in particular railway infrastructure development with last mile connectivity. It will improve speed of cargo movement that will directly benefit the industrial production thereby facilitating import and export business. The faster movement by way of multimodal facility will enable reducing the logistics cost. The government’s aim to bring down the cost to single digit in the next five years will enable key domestic players to be at par with the international market. The completion of DFC project which the government targets to finish in the next 12 months will be a major boost to the exporters helping them to meet the time deadlines, compete globally and increased volumes thereby contributing to the economic growth of the country and moving further up from the current position.”
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Mr. Arshdeep Singh Mundi, Managing Director, Jujhar Logistics.
National Logistics Policy (NLP) is a significant step towards strengthening the logistics sector by means of integration of efficient measures. Cost reduction from 14-18 percent of GDP 8 percent by 2030, to meet the global benchmarking along with an ambitious focus at improving Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking are some of the transformational steps for the entire ecosystem. Alongside these, means such as data-driven decision support systems (DSS), Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) and Logistics Services (E-Logs) are some of the key capacity building blocks that will eventually address prevailing challenges.
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Mr. Sanjay Bhatia, CEO and Co-founder, Freightwalla
“The logistics industry in India is currently marred with multiple challenges like transportation roadblocks, shipping woes and lack of technological infrastructure, which hinder its competition with developed economies due to the unorganised structure, manual interface and fragmented nature. Implementing cutting-edge technology, introducing digitisation to the last mile manufacturing stakeholders, including MSMEs and establishing a robust network with world-class infrastructure will transform the shipping and logistics sector with the new logistics policy. Going for a paperless system has been a long pending demand, and implementing the same will bring down the time involved in shipping and eradicating corruption at any level.
Adding to it, establishing a single point of contact for all the logistical and supply chain challenges will speed up the process and bring down the overall cost by approximately 10%, a significant concern raised by the industry. The policy’s primary motive is to create a conducive environment for the MSMEs to ship their goods to various parts of the country and the world.
Establishing a robust multimodal logistics hub and developing newer inland waterways will reduce the pressure on roads and rails. We believe the inclusion of product-linked incentives to build and boost the container manufacturing sector in the policy document would have helped solve the challenge of container shortages in the future.
Overall, National Logistics Policy has addressed the industry’s significant challenges by providing practical and sustainable solutions. Marrying seamless technology with superior infrastructure to build an all-inclusive logistics and supply chain ecosystem will unfold the new era of India’s logistics industry.”
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Captain Ram Iyer, President, Maritime Association of Nationwide Shipping Agencies (India):
“We are hopeful that the new logistics policy unveiled by the Hon Prime Minister will undoubtedly assist in effective seamless movement of goods thereby lowering costs & facilitate India as a global manufacturing & trading hub and also pave the way for achieving the ESG goals set by India Govt.
The policy has scaled higher with Maritime Vision 2030 by seamlessly integrating all stakeholders of logistics & EXIM supply chain, rather than working in silos.
We, as ship-agents at MANSA, being the apex focal for coordination of EXIM shipping in India, do strongly believe that this game changing policy will go a long way in enhancing Indian Govt’s stated objectives of Enhanced Ease Of Doing Business.
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Vijay Kalantri, Chairman, MVIRDC World Trade Center Mumbai – an international trade promotion organization:
India’s high logistics cost has been acting as a deterrent for Indian exporters and this new policy will enhance the global competitiveness of Indian exporters without violating WTO norms. Moreover, several Indian exporters, especially in hinterland, are seen losing export orders as they are unable to meet delivery timelines of foreign buyers. We hope this policy will lead to reduction in cargo transit time, lower transport cost and improvement in our exporters’ competitiveness vis-a-vis Vietnam, Bangladesh and other countries. The new logistics policy, if implemented well, can increase supply chain infrastructure and shorten delivery timeline for exporters and help them get more shipment orders.
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Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, Director and Practice Leader-Transport and Logistics, CRISIL:
This is a holistic effort to increase the efficiencies of all aspects of the logistics value chain. Over the past five fiscals, the government has invested close to Rs 15 lakh crore in augmenting hard infrastructure such as roads, rail, ports and airports.
While this trend is expected to continue, streamlining of the functional aspects such as ease of movement, common interfaces/platforms for service providers and users, and skill development focused on the logistics vocations was imperative. The new policy clearly aims to achieve these.
Its right implementation and widespread adoption will help structurally reduce logistics costs and make a material difference to the growth of India’s manufacturing and services sectors.
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Mradul K, VP of Global Sales and Strategy, LogiNext:
“Today is a memorable day for the Indian logistics sector. The launch of a new National Logistics Policy by our honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, will set a new standard for a modern, digitally-driven logistics sector. The Unified Logistics Interface Platform is a welcome move, which will bring in visibility in tracking, modern warehousing, and digitalisation of operations which are currently the need of the hour. The measures announced today- IDS — Integration of Digital System, ULIP — Unified Logistics interface Platform, ELOG — Ease of Logistics, and SIG — System Improvement Group, will help drive resiliency and sustainability in building a trusted logistics ecosystem that will power inclusive growth. We at LogiNext have also been spearheading the digitization of this sector and will continue to work with all stakeholders involved to take this to the next level.”
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Mr. Vineet Agarwal, MD at Transport Corporation of India
”The much-awaited announcement by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India around National Logistics Policy, will herald a paradigm shift in the logistics sector. Push towards seamless multimodal transportation and modern connectivity will be a game changer as it will shift the transportation stress from just road to other modes as well. It will help us drive the ESG goals and focus on a better cost structure. The paperless supply chain initiative, strengthened cooperative federalism, ease of Logistics services portal (e-log), and standardisation of the warehousing sector will help India become one of the top 25 Logistics performers in the world. The Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) tenant of the NLP will enhance visibility for customers and enable logistics companies like us to adopt digitisation at a much larger scale.
Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya will act as human resource for the drivers and other such training programmes will be provided to the workforce.
NLP is an encouragement for all the stakeholders in the Supply Chain segment & will be one of the key pillars for India to become a USD 5 trillion economy. It will surely provide the ‘Cheetah Speed’ to the logistics industry and make India a global logistics hub.”
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Mr. Pervinder Singh Chawla, Co-Founder at OnMove by Zast Logisolutions
”The much awaited New Logistics Policy is a transformative approach for economic growth and sustainable development. It creates a path for Logistics to contribute to the economy and GDP of the country in a positive manner. With strong focus towards creating a single-window e-logistics market, the generation of employment, skills and making medium and small enterprises competitive, the Policy will streamline the supply chain process. In India, where the road transportation dominates the logistics sector, with a dominant share of 60 percent, the shift towards multimodal infrastructure with a mix of rail, shipping, road, and air transport, will help reduce the congestion on roads along with low crude import bills. The policy addresses the pre-existing concerns in India’s logistics sector from a global perspective. The comprehensive areas mentioned in the Policy, like process re-engineering, paperless supply chain, seamless multimodal transport and modern connectivity for ease of doing business & reducing logistics costs, will help the country reach its economic goals. The sector-specific Logistics plan, and strengthened cooperative federalism will make India a Global Digital Logistics Hub. Gati shakti vishwavidyalaya will act as a Human Resource for drivers and others. New courses and skill development training programmes at UG and PG level will boost the Indian economy by enhancing the employment rate. The NLP also formalises the logistics sector by introducing a Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP). Ease of Logistics Services Portal (E-Log) will build a Digital Regulatory Interface. The reduction in transaction costs will catalyse the trade while enhancing competitiveness and driving MSMEs sector through cost-efficient logistics. Overall, the NLP is a holistics approach to help India set a global benchmark and become one of the Top 25 Logistics Performers in the world.”
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Ms Zaiba Sarang, Co-founder, iThink Logistics
”NLP aims at reducing the logistics cost from 13% to a single digit. Drones will soon contribute to agricultural logistics from remotest regions of Himalayas or remote islands their product will be made accessible to the Metro region of India. ULIP,ELOG,Gati Shakti and many more initiatives will try to deliver a cheetah speed to logistics of india. NLP gives the smallest of person in the ecosystem to get access to information that was available to key stakeholders only.85% owner owning less than 10 trucks and their empty trucks can pick up the goods from best place which will yield them higher return. NLP also helps the last mile to be more efficient and faster to fill up the gap of transporter where business can benefit in terms of time and cost.Currently, logistics is providing livelihood to more than 22 million people, with one of the initiatives aimed at upskilling and increasing employment opportunities. At the grassroots level NLP also helps truck drivers to get a peaceful night. Along with the normal people in the ecosystem it will also help the shramik class to get respect and dignity.”
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Sachin Agrawal, Co-Founder & CEO, Bizongo:
“As India emerges as a manufacturing hub, the National Logistics Policy will play a pivotal role in enabling MSMEs and the larger manufacturing industry achieve logistics and supply chain efficiencies. After the supply chains risks exposed by the pandemic and then the geopolitical tensions, the policy will not only promote seamless movement of goods and remove bottlenecks from supply chains but also empower businesses to boost delivery profitability, identify new revenue streams, and offer better customer experience. This in turn will reduce wastage, time, and costs and ensure India is on track with its net-zero goals.
However, the most integral part of the policy is the integration of technology and launch of single window e-logistics marketplace that will relieve the stress of shipment allocations and offer businesses more control over supply chains. This becomes even more integral as both B2B and B2C e-commerce markets expand rapidly in India. Considering that e-commerce has a direct impact on warehouse, logistics, and supply chain businesses, the pressure on these industries is also growing multifold. On one hand, the increasing competitiveness of the industry is compelling businesses to establish several fulfilment centers across the globe. While on the other hand, customers continue to demand more and expect swift deliveries. Here, the single window logistics platform will enable smart, proactive decision-making and promote the ease of doing business for various industry players. As we go forward it will be interesting to see increased use of automation and AI/ML solutions embedded into the platform to streamline first-mile to last-mile optimization and ensure error-free, rapid, and efficient dispatches.”
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