On Thursday Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit 2017, in Delhi. India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit is the first step of government which aims to have an effective multimodal logistics and transport sector to make Indian economy more competitive and the ministry for road transport has taken a lead in it. The integrated policy would include construction of 50 Economic Corridors and upgrading key feeder and inter-corridor routes to improve the overall efficiency of freight movement. The plan also includes developing 35 multimodal logistics parks to serve as centres for freight aggregation and distribution, multimodal transportation, storage and warehousing and value added services. In addition, there are also plans to construct 10 Inter-Modal Stations which integrate various transportation modes like rail, road, mass rapid transit system, bus rapid transit, auto-rickshaw, taxi and private vehicles.
Inaugurated the India Integrated Transport & Logistics Summit 2017 at New Delhi. #IndiaOnTheGo pic.twitter.com/AySG7uVS5e
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) May 4, 2017
According to the government, India spends 13 percent of its trade cost in logistics while foreign countries spend only 6-8 per cent. A.K. Mittal, Chairman of Railway Board, said if India does not take initiatives to bring down logistics cost then by 2020 the costs would mount to 5 per cent of the GDP. “We need to look into the various reasons why India is lagging behind. Currently, due to our poor planning, we have 60 per cent railways freight traffic in 16 percent of the areas,” said Mittal. Rita Teotia, Secretary Department of Commerce, called for a change in regulation of logistics policies. “Other countries have adopted friendly methods. In China the logistics are handled by the trade and commerce ministry while in Singapore, it is handled by private industries with the support of the government,” said Teotia. Stating that there is urgent need to improve logistics costs in India, the Ministry in a statement said that currently, India has very poor Logistics Performance Index due to an unfavourable modal mix of transport and a lack of seamless inter-modal connectivity.
1/Our Target is 65% Modal Share of Rly in more than 400 km Goods traffic:MR @sureshpprabhu Inaugural Session – #IITLS2017 #INDIAONTHEGO pic.twitter.com/7n3Nzmg1lX
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) May 4, 2017
The IITLS is envisaged as a platform for all stakeholders in transport and logistics sectors to come together and initiate collaborative partnerships to realise the various greenfield and brownfield opportunities in logistic parks, freight corridors and IT solutions.
Sharing some pictures of India Integrated Transport & Logistics Summit Exhibition #IndiaOnTheGo pic.twitter.com/r1Ik0r76jQ
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) May 4, 2017
