The announcement of the PM Gati Shakti initiative in 2021 seems to be coming to fruition as India climbed six places in the World Bank’s Logistic Performance Index 2023 to rank 38 out of 139 countries. The country was ranked 44 in 2018 even as its performance drastically improved from 2014, when it was at 54 in the index.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the PM Gati Shakti initiative, a national master plan for multimodal connectivity, in October 2021 to reduce logistics cost and boost the economy by 2024-25. Last year, he launched the National Logistics Policy (NLP) to ensure quick last-mile delivery, end transport-related challenges, save time and money of manufacturers, prevent wastage of agricultural products and ensure a desired speed in the logistics sector.
Here are significant findings from the report:
- India’s infrastructure moved five places to 47 in 2023 from 52 in 2018. India ranked 22nd for international shipments from 44 in 2018 and moved four places up to 48 in logistics competence and equality.
- In timelines, India jumped 17 places in the rankings, while it moved three places up in tracking and tracing.
- Two major factors for the country’s jump in the index could be modernisation and digitalisation, which the report quotes as a reason for emerging economies like India to leapfrog advanced countries.
“The government of India has invested in trade-related soft and hard infrastructure connecting port gateways on both coasts to the economic poles in the hinterland,” the report stated.
“Since 2015, the Government of India has invested in trade-related soft and hard infrastructure connecting port gateways on both coasts to the economic poles in the hinterland. Technology has been a critical component of this effort, with implementation under a public-private partnership of a supply chain visibility platform, which contributed to remarkable reductions of delays. NICDC Logistics Data Services Limited applies radio frequency identification tags to containers and offers consignees end-to-end tracking of their supply chain,” the report added.
According to the report, the average dwell time for containers between May and October 2022 was three days for India and Singapore, much better than some of the industrialised countries.
The report said: “The emerging economies with the shortest delays have gone beyond these packages and have implemented bold tracking and tracing solutions. India’s very low dwell time (2.6 days) is one example.”
The report said dwell time is the time a vessel spends at a specific port or terminal. It may also refer to the amount of time a container or cargo spends at a port or terminal before being loaded onto a vessel or after being unloaded.
The Logistics Performance Index (LPI) covers 139 countries. It measures the ease of establishing reliable supply chain connections and structural factors that make it possible, such as the quality of logistics services, trade and transport-related infrastructure, as well as border controls.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment