Investment in logistics to touch $500B by 2025: Suresh Prabhu
Expenditure on investment in logistics, including infrastructure, will touch $500 billion annually by 2025, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi said on July 30.
He added that this will create millions of jobs and also do away with the hurdles hampering India’s internal and global trade.
India is now being looked upon as one of the most appropriate destinations for manufacturing and service locations by many of the foreign companies. Further, initiatives like Digital India, Make in India, Skill India have added a boost to the Subcontinent's vast pool of resources, cost-efficient environment, and skilled workforce.
During recent years, the government has taken many measures to improve the trade performance through efficient and effective logistics. The measures include smoothening of the border and cross-border documentation and activities, dedicated freight corridors, investments in port, and other infrastructures, alignment of all business processes thus attempting to improve logistics performance of the country.
Recognising that efficient and effective management of logistics will have a positive impact on overall trade in manufacturing and services, the minister said that ‘Logistics Wing’ has been created in the Department of Commerce for the integrated development of this sector.
Due to these efforts, infrastructure status has been granted to warehousing, cold chains, and multimodal logistics parks. The ministry is working on a National Logistics Policy and also bringing out a policy on the development of multi-modal Logistics Parks to be announced soon.
Further, the minister said that the cost and speed of logistics at present is hindering the market share that Indian products deserve and in order to solve these issues in an integrated and holistic way the Centre for Trade Facilitation and Logistics (CTFL) has been given a mandate by Department of Commerce (Logistics Division) to prepare a plan and act for following objectives:
- To bring together industry, academia, governments, and organisations of national and international level, to work on the key supply chain and logistics, management challenges facing firms in the globalised environment.
- To train and build the required human resource skills through appropriate training and academic programs and create a cadre of Trade Facilitation & Logistics management experts/professionals.
- To impart training to government officials who are working in the logistics & trade facilitation sectors.
The ministry has agreed to provide a block one-time funding support of Rs 80 lakhs towards initial infrastructure and a phase-wise support of Rs 339.90 lakhs for four years. This centre will attempt to document and monitor the trade and logistics activities and suggest suitable measures for its improvement.
