Looking at ways to strengthen the framework for logistics and movement of cargo in the country, the government is likely to consider the idea of having an integrated company for logistics purposes.
Suggesting the idea, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today said the government would like to bring all forms of logistics together which would help in reducing overall costs.
Ways need to be looked at to bring railways, roads, ports, waterways and aviation together to offer holistic solutions, the minister said at the India Integrated Transport and Logistics Summit here.
"The idea is to reduce the cost of logistics. We would like to bring in all forms of logistics together... Can we have one integrated company (for logistics)?" he asked.
Emphasising the need for having an integrated transport and logistics system, Prabhu said with implementation of GST, trade and business would grow with much faster rate.
While fiscal barriers to the movement of goods have been done away with, the physical barriers also need to be removed, he noted.
At the event, Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said the government is working on an integrated transport policy and creation of world-class infrastructure could propel India on the path of development and wipe out poverty.
Talking about railways, Prabu said investments have been stepped in the last two-and-a-half years.
"It is something like Rs 3,50,000 crore which is almost close to $60 billion. We are already making investments into the railways at a massive scale... Third party investments in railways is around Rs 42,000 crore, which is close to USD 6.5 billion," he noted.
The minister also said the ground breaking for the high speed railway network connecting Mumbai and Ahmedabad would be done later this year.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said that multi-modal logistics would help connect diverse Indian markets and boost economic development.
Citing an example, he said orchids are coming to Delhi from Thailand because of logistics ease.
According to him, people in Meghalaya and Sikkim said they grow some of the most beautiful orchids in the world.
Noting that orchids are highly perishable, Sinha said, the biggest demand for them is in Delhi for weddings.
"Now they are coming from Thailand because airport in Bangkok has such good cargo facilities... This is because we have not built multi-modal logistics," he added.
