To streamline and fast track cargo movement both in sea and on land, the Centre is preparing a system to oversee and trace all movement of containers in real time with an aim to clear logistical bottlenecks and ensure timely delivery of consignments.
The Government is in an advanced stage of conceptualizing ‘logistics Data Bank’ (lDB) — the new tracking project, which is being developed under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) with the help of Japan-based NEC Corporation.
Different departments and Ministries including the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Road, Transport and Shipping and Ministry of Railways are working together for finalising the project.
“The project is geared to give us a real time tracking of containers across the complete logistics value chain by way of integrating the software of different service providers and tracking of containers through installation of Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags,” said an official from the Ministry of Shipping.
“We are also working on formulating a regulatory framework for charging mandatory user charges for all containers,” he said. The official said that in the first phase, the Government wants to tracks all cargo movement on the sea route. “We want to track all movement of containers across the ports to the Inland Container Depot and to the end users,” he said.
The lDB would be an overarching solution that will integrate the information available with various agencies across the supply chain to provide detailed real time information within a single window and in the most transparent manner.
“It would also enable the Centre, States, importers, exporters and other stakeholders to assess comparative performance, identify inefficiencies and bottlenecks to develop strategies to ensure the development of the sector,” said the official.
Reduction in the lead time and transaction cost as a result of predictability and optimisation achieved through lDB would attract companies to set up or open new centres in the DMIC zone.
“Currently, almost 60 per cent of the container traffic currently in India is in the Western Corridor. We want to increase cargo activity even in the Eastern corridor and increase it four fold in the next five years,” he said.
“With the establishment of new DMIC cities and the expected increase in container traffic, it is more essential to provide a world class logistic infrastructure to the operating entities to boost the manufacturing and other related sectors,” said the official.
The project would be first implemented at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT). "The proposal has been submitted to the JNPT for onward submission to Tariff Authority of Major Ports (TAMP) after getting comments from private terminal operators.