Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
Preamble The efficiency of the logistics sector is a crucial factor that determines the economic competitiveness of the country. The growth of the other sectors depends heavily on the efficiency, reliability, and responsiveness of the logistics network. The need for resilient and stable logistics and supply chains has been clearly emphasized by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past few years, India has undertaken significant measures for building an effective, efficient, and modern logistics and warehousing landscape. It has come a long way in improving its logistics sector considerably in past years. India ranked 44th on World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index 2018 report – a 10 place improvement from 2014. The report also highlights the concerns in the country’s logistics infrastructure and suggests measures to strengthen the ecosystem & reduce the overall cost by 40% (i.e., from 14% to 8% of GDP)1. With the Government of India’s thrust on boosting the economy in form of initiatives such as Make in India, GST along with the focus on FDI, the onus on the logistics sector is unprecedented. Measures to enhance the warehousing capacities and transport infrastructure across modes such as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna, dedicated freight corridors, UDAN scheme, Bharatmala and Sagarmala, etc. provide important enabling infrastructure for logistics. Despite these developments, the sector suffers from myriad issues such as sub-optimal modal mix, outdated material handling systems, redundant skill sets, multiple physical documentation etc. Hence, optimal road network, interlinkage of industrial hubs with railways, roadways, airways, creation of multi-modal logistic parks along with the adoption of new age IT technologies and regulations are key to India’s vision of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy. To further improve the logistics sectors of the country, the Government of India (GoI) has established the Logistics Division in July 2017 under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI). The Division acts as a nodal point for Centre/ States and other agencies to coordinate on all the issues/concerns of the sector and has been mandated to develop an action plan for the integrated development of the logistics sector in the country, by way of policy changes, improvement in existing procedures, identification of bottlenecks and gaps and introduction of technology. The Govt. of India has undertaken multiple initiatives to improve logistics infrastructure & business ecosystem. These initiatives include: