National Logistics Policy – India’s leap towards a global hub

India launched the National Logistics Policy (NLP) on 17th September 2022, with the aim of promoting a seamless movement of goods and improving the country’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking, to be amongst the top 25 countries by 2030.

This policy comes under Prime Minister’s GatiShakti,a national master plan that was launched to build robust infrastructure, fill the missing gaps in logistics, and draw more investments into the country. 

With the new emerging hubs in India, the government has been doing systemic infrastructure development through schemes such as Sagarmala, Bharatmala, and Dedicated Freight Corridor in order to improve connectivity. These initiatives will also improve the competitiveness of Indian goods in domestic and global markets.

Technology will be the backbone of trade 

E-sanchit is helping paperless export-import trade processes and faceless assessment in customs. Similarly, e-way bill and FASTag are also standard on highways to improve the efficiency of the logistics sector. Creating data-driven decision support systems (DSS) is also a way to enable an efficient logistics ecosystem. 

Another such technological advancement is ULIP. Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) will bring all the digital services related to the transportation sector into a single space. Ease of logistics services or E-Logs will allow industry associations to take up any issues on operations and performance with the government.  NLP also promotes the use of AI and blockchain in India and that would help to integrate India’s large unorganized logistics market. 

Cost and economy

Logistics cost in India is high compared to other developed economies as its proportion in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is around 13-14 percent. Thus, the policy aims at reducing the logistics cost to single digit aggressively. Higher efficiency in logistics will increase the country’s exports, boost manufacturing, and make India a highly attractive destination for global investors.

Reduced logistics costs and increased logistic efficiencies with the help of technology will energize the economy across sectors and take India many steps closer to emerging as a global manufacturing powerhouse. 

The National Logistics Policy devised by the government of India has been implemented with a vision of making the logistics sector stronger and efficient. This helps us understand the increasing importance of logistics in not only a supply chain but its impact on economies as a whole. India is looking forward to a brighter path towards a robust logistics network.

Contributed by :

G V S K Vedant, Sales, Hyderabad, 20Cube Logistics.