Cabinet approves National Logistics Policy for 'tech-enabled' ecosystem

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the National Logistics Policy (NLP) that aims to enable seamless movement of goods across the country as well as improve the competitiveness of Indian goods in the domestic and export markets.

“The vision is to develop a technologically-enabled, integrated, cost-efficient, resilient, sustainable and trusted logistics ecosystem for accelerated and inclusive growth,” an official statement said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the policy on Saturday. The policy has three targets: to reduce the cost of logistics in India to be comparable to global benchmarks by 2030, improve the global Logistics Performance Index ranking, and create a data-driven decision support mechanism .

India’s logistics cost as a proportion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is believed to be around 13-14 per cent. The government now aims to bring it down to single digits as soon as possible.

In the Logistics Performance Index, India was ranked 44th in the last edition of the index in 2018.  The monitoring and the coordination will be done at the Centre as well as at the state-level.

In a media briefing, the Information and Broadcasting minister said that the target is to be among the top 25 countries by 2030.

The monitoring and the coordination will be done at the Centre as well as at the state-level. An empowered group of secretaries (EGoS) will monitor and review the implementation of the NLP. A services improvement group, comprising officers from various ministries will also be set up by the EGoS for resolution of various issues pertaining to documentation, processes, and policy.

“To ensure that the benefits of this policy have maximum possible outreach, important initiatives under the policy, including the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP), the Ease of Logistics Services platform, e-handbook on Warehousing, training courses on PM GatiShakti and logistics on i-Got platform, were launched along with the launch of the National Logistics Policy, thereby indicating the readiness for immediate on-ground implementation,” the statement said.

ULIP will enable integration with existing data sources of ministries as well as data exchange with private players. Besides, digital dashboard–Ease of Logistics (E-LogS) –is being developed by the industry department for registering, coordinating, and monitoring time-bound resolution of issues. It will contain timelines, status of resolution.

“This policy supports enhancing competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises, and other sectors such as agriculture and allied sectors, fast moving consumer goods and electronics. With greater predictability, transparency and reliability, wastages in the supply chain and need for huge inventory will reduce,” the statement said.