Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said that the Centre is working on a mega concept to minimize the cost of logistics to maximize exports and help build a better economy.
He said that India has, for the first time, started planning for an integrated, multi-modal transport system. He said there is an urgent need for integrated transport planning to bring down the logistics cost in the country.
Gadkari said all the transport partners like road, Railways, aviation, inland waterways among others will work out to find the best possible logistics and it is expected that partners will enter into agreement worth business of about Rs2-lakh crore. Gadkari was speaking after inaugurating an exhibition of India Integrated Transport & logistics Summit (IITlS) 2017.
He mentioned that the summit will bring together all stakeholders concerned with the logistics sector to plan such a development.
The IITlS is envisaged as a platform for all stakeholders in transport and logistics sectors to come together and initiate collaborative partnerships to realize the various greenfield and brownfield opportunities in logistic parks, freight corridors and IT solutions. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had undertaken a study, called the logistics Efficiency Enhancement Programme (lEEP), which has identified four key solution themes to improve the state of logistics in India.
These are freight corridor upgradation, logistics park development, seamless interstate movement and electronic toll collection systems. Taken together, these initiatives are expected to reduce India’s logistics costs and bring them closer to the accepted global benchmarks from the current high levels of 13-14 per cent of the GDP.
The Ministry plans to develop 35 Multimodal logistics Parks (MMlPs) in India which will, cater to 50 per cent of the freight movement, enable 10 per cent reduction in transportation costs and 12 per cent reduction in C02 emissions. land parcels have been identified and pre-feasibility studies initiated on six of these locations. The Government is also working to formulate a uniform policy for the development of MMlPs.
Citing an example, Gadkari said that Sikkim has best varieties and species of beautiful flowers but reaching Delhi or Mumbai is a
huge logistical problem and exporting them further is more.
“If logistical solutions come then cost of transportation will also come down and in a well coordinated scheme these will reach on time without much hassle. A logistics park will also be developed,” he said.