The National Logistics Policy (NLP), launched by the Government of India in September 2022, aims to promote the seamless movement of goods, overcome transport-related challenges, encourage digitisation and significantly reduce logistics time and cost. The policy is aimed at reducing India’s logistics cost considerably and bringing its percentage of GDP in line with the developed economies. Reduced logistics costs shall help improve India’s competitiveness, both in the domestic and export markets, by improving efficiency across all sectors,” said Suprio Banerjee, Vice-President & Sector Head, ICRA Limited. He added, “The Introduction of NLP is a long-term positive for the Indian logistics industry, given its overall focus on attaining better integration of different modes of transport, which in turn shall lead to faster turnaround and higher efficiency. It is also expected to lower the cost of logistics by reducing the over-dependence on the road sector, thereby reducing congestion and ensuring better asset utilisation. Implementation challenges, however, are expected as multiple agencies, stakeholders, and physical entities are involved, which will require proper coordination for the successful implementation of the policy. The implementation will also entail heavy capital investments to be policy-compliant. The benefits of the policy should also be evaluated against its compliance costs. Nonetheless, the long-term benefits of the policy will outweigh the short-term challenges.” The salient features of the NLP include setting key targets, which include a reduction in the logistics cost in India to be comparable to global benchmarks by 2030 and be among the top 25 countries by 2030 (currently ranked at 44) in the logistics performance index rankings as also creating a data-driven decision support mechanism for an efficient logistics ecosystem. The policy will be implemented through an …

AA Holdings announced a strategic partnership with logistic development company, Avinya Industrial and Logistic Park to empower all small landlords and aggregators across the country to develop quality warehousing infrastructure. Through this partnership, the two entities aim to develop 20 million square feet of land parcels across the country in the next 3 years to contribute meaningfully towards the creation of a warehousing ecosystem at the grass root level. The joint venture will play a pivotal role in further expanding the burgeoning warehousing infrastructure development in the country which is currently limited to the top 8-10 cities only. This will enable local landlords and aggregators to acquire the necessary skill sets and knowledge to attract the right clients and make the right use of their real estate assets as India looks forward to becoming a $5 trillion economy. Commenting on the launch of his new venture, Abhijit Verma, Managing Director, AA Holdings said, “India is the fastest growing warehousing market in the world propelled by the rapid growth of e-commerce, introduction of the Goods and Services Tax and the improved in road infrastructure. These factors have unlocked immense potential to develop land parcels into prime warehousing properties and bring prosperity to the land owners by imparting the right knowledge in the best use of the asset and inculcating the necessary skill sets. Through this new venture, we aim to be a catalyst and leverage their grassroot knowledge to help them emerge as developers by imparting the right business acumen, helping them connect with clients and guide them in the best use of their assets. With Avinya, we found synergies in our vision of transforming the warehousing market in India by …

JD Logistics has opened its second warehouse in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates to enhance global logistics network, and to provide end-to-end supply chain services covering Asia, Africa and Europe for local and cross-border merchants. Twenty-minute drive from the Port of Jebel Ali, this warehouse is located in Dubai Industrial City, with an area of 12,000 square meters, providing logistics services ranging from concentrated transportation, sea transportation, air transportation, transition, customs clearance to warehousing, sorting, labeling, drop shipping and more, for both bulky and small to medium-sized products, and meeting both B2C and B2B fulfilment requirements. Adopting JD Logistics’ self-developed management system, the warehouse can digitally manage inbound and outbound inventory, thus precisely predicting the trends and allocating distribution resources accordingly to improve logistics efficiency, said release. Siyuan Yue, head of JD Logistics Dubai Warehouse said, “Powered by digital capabilities, JD’s warehouse in Dubai provides clients with integrated logistics solutions, optimizing the international transportation routes greatly.” As early as in 2020, JD Logistics began to operate in the Middle East, and its first warehouse was launched in the largest free trade zone in the region, Dubai’s Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), offering logistics services spanning GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries and reaching to continent Africa.

Drones operators Skye Air Mobility and Redcliffe Labs have partnered to start a Long Term Drone Pilot Flight from the distant highlands of Uttarkashi to Sahastradhara, Dehradun, said reports. “The Redcliffe test samples are sent to the Dehradun Redcliffe Labs in 90 minutes through drone delivery from their collecting center in Uttarkashi. In order to deliver affordable and high-quality diagnostic services to the citizens of Uttarkashi, Redcliffe Labs will be flying daily flights for both routine and specialty test sample collection. Redcliffe Labs is the first diagnostic firm in India to use drones to carry samples, guaranteeing that individuals living in smaller towns or distant locations have access to high-quality, affordable diagnostics,” added reports. Ankit Kumar, CEO of Skye Air Mobility said, “The current form of logistics simply does not work for the healthcare industry in such a terrain geography. The need is to have a solution which is providing a faster, sustainable and scalable supply; drones rightly fit into elevating delivery, the Skye Air way. We are enthused to take our partnership with Redcliffe Labs to the next level of beginning long term flights helping the residents of Uttarkashi to get advantage from such services. Skye Air is working together towards a mission to impact lives at large and with our partners here, we are one step ahead in that journey.”

The Punjab government is all set to approve its first logistics policy soon, said reports. The policy will offer fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for investments in multi-modal logistics parks, transport centres, wayside amenities, specialized warehouses in border districts and commercial vehicles fleets, the reports added. “The Integrated Logistics and Logistics Park Policy, which is being given final touches by the industries and commerce department for approval from the state cabinet, envisages to increase the competitiveness of goods produced in the state by cutting the logistics costs from 13% to 8% through improvement in the efficiency of the sector. The final draft of the policy pitches logistics as a thrust area, identifying it as an eligible service enterprise for fiscal incentives, including reimbursement of state goods and services tax (SGST), employment general subsidy and exemption from change of land use charges (CLU) and external development charges.”

The Indian Railways has achieved the yearly milestone in freight transportation by crossing the 1,000 million tons (MT) mark in this fiscal, said an official statement. Till date, the railways has loaded 1,002 MT of freight in the current fiscal. Earlier, this milestone was achieved on December 24, 2021, and as on December 6, 2021, the railways had achieved a freight loading of 926.4 MT. During this financial year, the national transporter has registered an incremental loading of 76.3 MT with growth rate of 8.25 per cent. “In revenue terms, the railways freight revenues stood close to Rs 1,08,593 crore in the current year vis-a-vis Rs 93,532 crore during last year till December 6, thus showing an improvement of 16.10 per cent,” the statement added.”

Cargo markets are expected to come under increased pressure in 2023, said IATA’s latest report. Revenues are expected to be $149.4 billion, which is $52 billion less than 2022 but still $48.6 billion stronger than 2019. With economic uncertainty, cargo volumes are expected to decrease to 57.7 million tonnes, from a peak of 65.6 million tonnes in 2021. As belly capacity grows in line with the recovery in passenger markets, yields are expected to take a significant step back. IATA expects a fall of 22.6% in cargo yields, mostly in the latter part of the year when the impact of inflation-cooling measures are expected to bite. To put the yield decline in context, cargo yields grew by 52.5% in 2020, 24.2% in 2021 and 7.2% in 2022. Even the sizable and expected decline leaves cargo yields well-above pre-COVID levels, added report.

Continental Carriers Pvt. Ltd. has been awarded as the ‘Best Supplier/Service Provider for MSMEs’ at the FICCI-CMSME Annual MSME Summit 2022 and MSME Ecosystem Awards at FICCI – Federation House, New Delhi held on 5th December, 2022. Vipin Vohra, Chairman, Continental Carriers received the prestigious award from Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Minister of State for MSME, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India and Shri BB Swain, Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Govt of India. FICCI-CMSME, the MSME arm of FICCI sincerely understands the importance of the growth trajectory of MSMEs towards their sustainable development and keeping this in view, FICCI- CMSME had organized the Annual MSME Summit 2022 on the theme “Pushing Sustainable MSME Growth in India” with an objective to disseminate education in terms of policy reforms, supply chain enhancement and access to finance to reduce the information gap in this area for translating the potential into reality.

WestJet Cargo, the air cargo division of WestJet confirmed the launch of 4 dedicated Boeing 737-800 freighters on March 26, 2023 to massively increase its operations, thereby meeting the growing demand of the Canadian market, said official reports. Kirsten De Bruijn, WestJet Executive Vice President of Cargo, said, “WestJet Cargo is about to enter a very promising and exciting period in its development. The arrival of our new fleet, converted freighters, will enable us to meet the rising demand of the Canadian market, more than ever before. 2023 will undoubtedly be a significant year for WestJet Cargo. Further announcements about the forthcoming launch will be issued very soon.”

Kuehne+Nagel (K+N) has struck a long-term agreement for a new airside facility at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport that aims to boost Africa’s healthcare and pharmaceutical logistics capability. As part of this agreement, K+N will offer customers a set of logistics solutions, including warehousing, transportation, customs brokerage, supply chain management, and airside support to project-specific charters for both in and outbound shipments. Core to this offering is a cold chain solution that ensures 24/7 temperature-control to safeguard the integrity of highly sensitive pharma products. The new offering has been designed to support Africa’s aim to become more self-reliant in healthcare operations. South Africa, Nigeria, and Algeria are leading the manufacturing charge in sub-Saharan Africa, while imports from Europe, North America, India and China remain crucial to meeting Africa’s demand for medicines and basic healthcare. “Pharmaceuticals in particular are highly-sensitive, time-critical products,” said Gereon Niemeier, managing director, Kuehne+Nagel South Africa. “Every minute these products spend on the tarmac exposes them to temperature fluctuations, physical damage, and loss. Our new facility addresses all these challenges to ensure product stability throughout the journey.” He added, “Our people have the expertise for plane-side access that other logistics providers don’t. “In addition, the facility is so close to the charter parking area that we can provide in-person visibility resources, as well as a unique dollie solution, that greatly reduce the risk of ground handling errors as well as shipment claims. “Onsite monitoring protects product stability – whether temperature-controlled, high value or time critical – throughout the entire journey.