The National Logistics Policy
The National Logistics Policy has taken a transformative step towards enhancing and streamlining the logistics industry in the country. This policy has prioritized key areas including infrastructure development, digitization, and skill development. Besides, substantial investments in infrastructure, including the development of ports, roads, and rail connectivity, have led to improved goods movement, reduced transit times thereby, significantly enhancing overall efficiency. Our story has put forth the industry’s perspective on the completion of one year since the implementation of NLP. We will examine to what extent the policy has succeeded in enhancing and streamlining the logistics industry.

Krishan Kumar Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, CJ DARCL Logistics: With the vision of achieving ‘Golden India’, the country has made significant advancements in various areas including digital integration, services improvement, skill development, reduction in logistics cost, EXIM logistics, etc. We have witnessed a drastic improvement in Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking in 2023, now standing at the 38th position. This progress has reignited India's commitment to achieving a place among the top 25 countries in the World Logistics Performance Index.

Dr. Ashvini Jakhar, Founder & CEO, Prozo: The first year of the NLP has been highly productive in terms of fostering synchronization among different stakeholders, including various ministries within the Gati Shakti framework. The ULIP platform has successfully integrated 33 governmental logistics platforms/websites with over 500 industry players registered on it. This development is poised to attract global investments in India. Overall, the substantial progress made towards policy implementation strongly suggest that we will soon begin to reap see the economic benefits, positioning India as a top-ranking international logistics hub in the near future.

Mahesh Fogla, Executive Director, Patel Integrated Logistics: India's remarkable climb in the World Bank's Logistics Performance Index, rising from 44th place in 2018 to an impressive 38th out of 139 countries in 2023, underscores the effectiveness of the NLP. The NLP's holistic approach aims to enhance synergy across transport modes, reduce logistics costs, and bolster our global competitiveness. Much like how UPI revolutionized banking, ULIP, under the NLP, is poised to redefine the logistics industry's landscape.

Swarup Bose, Founder and CEO, Celcius Logistics: One of its significant achievements has been the integration of various modes of transportation. This integration was made possible through the development of multimodal logistics parks, the setting up of dedicated freight corridors, and the infusion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into warehousing and technology adoption. The strong emphasis on digitalization, in particular, has paved the way for the integration of the fragmented cold supply chain, bringing in efficiency and transparency into the system.

Subeer Oberoi, General Manager North & East, Yusen Logistics: Multiple Infrastructure development projects are working in tandem, including the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), Industrial Corridor Projects (DMIC, CBIC, AKIC, HNIC, HWIC, HBIC, BMIC, VCIC & OEC), and the development of Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLP) under Bharatmala & Sagarmala initiatives. In a nutshell, the National Logistics Policy has successfully brought all government agencies on one stage, aiming to provide Ease of Logistics (ELOG) and thereby guiding the overall development of the logistics sector in a progressive direction.

Full story in Lifting & Specialised Transport September-October, 2023 issue
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