National Logistics Policy 2022
Vision
“To develop a technologically enabled, integrated, cost-efficient, resilient, sustainable and trusted logistics ecosystem in the country for accelerated and inclusive growth.”
About:
On September 17, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi launched the National
Logistics Policy (NLP), to bring forth revolutionary changes in the
nation’s logistics aiding commerce and trade. The government intends to work
the NLP policy in tandem with PM Gati Shakti – National Master Plan, to bridge
the alarming gap in India’s trade competitiveness.
What’s the need for NLP?
India is the 5th largest economy in the world, and one of the
fastest growing economies and we know that efficient logistics support enables resilient
and inclusive growth. So far, when India is concerned, the current logistics
cost is estimated to be roughly 14% of our GDP, which is nearly double compared
to developed economies averaging 8% of their GDP.
This has pulled down India’s competitiveness gap by a whopping $180
billion and this very much gets reflected in India’s Logistic Performance Index
globally. In 2018, India’s rank was 44, dropping from 35 in 2016; wherein India
scored less in all the 6 parameters, which are— Customs, Infrastructure,
International Shipments, Logistics Competence, Tracking & tracing and
Timeliness. The policy further sets the goal of improving India’s ranking in
the Logistics Performance Index to be in the top 25 countries by 2030
The National Logistics Policy
Logistics can be defined as the “art of managing the flow of goods and
services from source to user.” A broad term that refers to the planning,
implementation, and management of the movement of goods and services from a
point of origin to a point of consumption.
This policy will focus on some key
areas such as process re-engineering, digitisation, and multi-modal transport.
It is a crucial move as high logistics cost impacts the competitiveness of
domestic goods in the international market.
Reduced logistics cost aims to
improve efficiency cutting across various sectors of the economy, enabling
value addition and enterprise. It said that the policy is an effort to address
issues of high cost and inefficiency by laying down an overarching
interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral and multi-jurisdictional framework for the
development of the entire logistics ecosystem.
Major features of NLP
Ø Integration
of Digital System (IDS):
·
30
different systems of seven different departments will be integrated digitally
including the road transport, railway, customs, aviation, foreign trade and
commerce ministries.
·
It will improve
shorter cargo movement.
Ø Unified
Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP):
· Bringing all
the digital services related to the transportation sector into a single portal.
· It consists of 3 components: Integration of
data sources from ministries; Data exchange with private players; Unified
document reference in the supply chain. Coalescing real time information and
data under a single platform makes the processes easier, more effective and
transparent.
Ø Ease of
Logistics (ELOG):
·
A new
policy will be implemented to simplify the rules and ease the logistics
business. It facilitates EXIM logistics by bringing service seekers and service
providers on a single platform.
Ø System
Improvement Group (SIG):
·
Monitoring
all logistics-related projects regularly and tackling all obstacles.
How can NLP be a Game Changer?
The National Logistics Policy has been envisioned to progress in tandem
with other major policies and projects of the government. The PM Gati Shakti
Programme – aims to improve rails and road connectivity. The Bharatmala project
focuses on connecting industrial corridors and promoting road traffic between
major trade and production cities and towns.
The Sagarmala project envisions improving the capacity building of our
ports, inland waterways etc.
Further, with the implementation of advanced technologies is the key. We
can increase the adoption of paperless transactions in EXIM trade by e-Sanchit
portal, bring in faceless evaluation at customs. E-way bills, FASTags, GST etc.
are already in use to ease the complexity in the logistics sector.
We aim to be a crucial player in the world and registering our mark as a
$5 Trillion economy by 2024-25 is the keystone for our ‘Make in India’ policy.
To achieve that connectivity and infrastructure are crucial to effectively tap
and boost our potential to bring in enormous improvements in the agriculture,
industries, cold-storage, manufacturing, and export-import sectors of India.
