Government working on integrated, multi-modal logistics and transport policy  

The Indian  government is working towards formulating an integrated, multi-modal  logistics and transport policy which will reduce logistics costs in the country by nearly half, making Indian products more competitive. The strategy would be to adopt a hub-and-spoke  model for the logistics sector in place of the present point-to-point model.  

This information was revealed by Nitin Gadkari, minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, at a curtain raiser event yesterday in New Delhi for the ‘India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit’ scheduled to be held from May 3-5, 2017.  

Fifty Economic  Corridors planned
Gadkari added that the integrated policy would include construction of 50 Economic Corridors and upgrading of key feeder and inter corridor routes to improve overall efficiency of freight movement. The plan also includes developing 35 multi-modal 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 (BRT),  auto-rickshaw, taxi and private vehicles.

An overall network of about 56,000 km has been identified including existing national corridors (Golden Quadrilateral and NS-EW Corridor)), proposed economic corridors, inter-corridor routes and feeder routes.

In addition to this, 191 towns/ cities have been identified on these routes where steps will be taken to reduce congestion. Inter-state border movement related documentation and procedure will also be simplified. These interventions will enable a reduction of 5-6% in the overall supply chain costs in the economy. Logistics parks will help reduce transportation cost for the top 15 nodes by about 10 percent, besides reducing pollution, congestion and warehousing costs. Chennai and Vijayawada have already identified land parcels for development of logistics parks. Pre-feasibility study will be initiated in these two cities on immediate basis.

This is the first time ever that the development of the transport sector is being done in such an integrated manner. The plan would serve to make the economy competitive by reducing logistics costs, bring down pollution levels by reducing congestion on roads, give a boost to industry and create employment.

India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit 
In context of the above plans, the upcoming summit will provide an ideal platform for various stakeholders from the government – Road, Rail, Air, Urban Planning – infrastructure developers in the private sector and global experts to come together and discuss issues plaguing the logistics sector and the potential solutions. Transformation of the logistics sector is only possible through an integrated system-based approach that cuts across modes of transport, administrative geographies, and integrates capital investment with regulatory and policy development. The upcoming Summit is expected to be the forum where such integrated planning can take shape.

IITLS will have an exhibition running around the theme of logistics and transportation. The exhibition will be spread over an area of 10,000 square metres and is expected to have over 120 Indian and global companies showcasing their products.

The conference will have theme sessions on the following topics, and will bring together global and Indian speakers to discuss on topical issues. Over 50 Indian and global industry leaders will be participating in these theme sessions.

- Road freight corridors for economic development
- Public Private Partnerships: Multimodal Logistics Parks
- GST: Changing logistics models
- New possibilities: Inland waterways and coastal shipping
- Gateways: Congestion, clearance, transit times and role of digitisation
- Urban transportation: New developments
- Supply chain transformation: Storage innovations
- Standards and skills for logistics