Category Archives: Supply Chain

Fareye launched a machine learning algorithm that self-learns the ‘correct’ address by analysing historical data and geocodes customer locations to boost address accuracy for e-commerce. Particularly focusing on the festive season that witness huge surge in online deliveries, the tech company aims to help e-commerce businesses to scale cost-effective delivery operations to fulfil customer expectations. Kushal Nahata, CEO, FarEye, said “Inaccurate customer address remains a critical logistics problem for many countries and it’s a major reason that fuels the need for multiple delivery attempts. Businesses need to leverage advanced logistics platform that quickly learns a customer’s exact delivery location based on previous delivery failures or success.”

GMR Hyderabad Airport Cargo launched Hyderabad Cargo Charter Circle (HC3) for facilitating cargo charter operators via Hyderabad Air Cargo Terminal. The move is to develop Hyderabad as an air charter hub in South and boost the regional direct connectivity and link it to the main hubs across the globe. The innovative and dedicated platform for enabling cargo charter operations was launched in the presence of charter operators, freighters, shippers, consolidation agents, freight forwarders and other airport stakeholders. “Cargo charters in India is still in nascent stage but holds a lot of promise, hence, we have launched the HC3 platform to give value and advantage to this segment and thereby boost trade and logistics,” said S.G.K. Kishore, Chief Executive Officer, GHIAL.

DP World plans to make Container Multimodal Terminals (CMTL), its Hyderabad Private Freight Terminal (PFT), as a multi-modal distribution hub for South India cargo. The company has already established private freight terminals and rail-road linkages connecting the city with other trading hubs across the country. The global trade enabler will leverage its rail-road transport connectivity and warehouses. The announcement was made during the conference themed ‘India’s Logistics Sector on the Path of Transformation’ in Hyderabad. The company said Hyderabad will act as the catalyst to drive more trade in the state of Telangana. CMTL houses a Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) at Thimmapur (near Hyderabad in Telangana state) with proximity to National Highway 7. The MMLP is equipped with a railway siding and over 250,000 sq ft. of warehousing to cater to the needs of both domestic and EXIM trade.

The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) elected new office bearers of the Executive Committee for the period of 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 in its 56th Annual General Meeting (AGM). AV Vijaykumar, who earlier was Chairman-elect, has taken over as Chairman of FFFAI and Shankar Shinde has been elected as Chairman-elect for ensuing two years. PS Atree, Rajesh Verma and Sudip Dey have been re-elected as Vice Chairmen while Vijay Sharma, Alan Jose and Mandava Satyanarayana have become the newly elected Vice Chairmen of the Federation. Dushyant Mulani and Sudhir Agarwal have been elected unopposed Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer respectively. Vijaykumar made it clear that in the days to come FFFAI would play more effective and key role in the growth of ex-im trade as well as logistics industry in the country, through collective initiatives.

Nippon Express has agreed to acquire a 22 per cent stake in Future Supply Chain Solutions (FSC). This transaction is a combination of primary issuance and secondary purchase from an existing Investor. As part of this transaction, FSC will issue 37,89,350 shares to Nippon Express at a price of ₹664 per share (22 per cent premium to the current market price). Through this primary issue Nippon Express will hold 8.6 per cent stake on a fully diluted basis and FSC will raise around ₹252 crore for funding its near-term growth plans. Nippon Express and FSC plan to explore synergies between the two organizations. FSC and Nippon Express will jointly evaluate leveraging Nippon Express’ competency in diverse sectors for the Indian market. FSC plans to leverage Nippon Express’ Japanese and MNC clients for exploring new business opportunities in India, especially for 3PL and express logistics operations. Nippon Express will also have representation on FSC’s Board of Directors, which will further strengthen its board through their strategic direction.

Welcoming the much-needed booster for the exports sector, Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, FIEO said, “Slew of new measures announced for the exports sector in the form of incentives & refund of taxes, export finance, export facilitation, free trade agreements, engineering and handicrafts will not only go a long way in enhancing the growth prospects of the sector in the short-term but will also give it a much needed boost in the medium-term and long-term and will stimulate the overall economy.” FIEO Chief said that the new scheme of Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) with revenue burden of up to Rs 50,000 crore for the government, will completely replace all Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) from January 1, 2020 with the expectation that the new scheme will more than adequately incentivize the exporters than the existing schemes put together. “The new scheme looks attractive as it will neutralise all duties and levies suffered by the export products. Giving three months lead time till December 31 to the existing MEIS will remove the uncertainty creeping in the minds of the exporters and will greatly help to finalise their export orders,” he adds.

The new 2 lakh sq. ft. sorting centre at Gurugram will be located at Farukhnagar and 1.5 lakh sq. ft. sorting centre at Pune will be located at Chakan. The construction is expected to be completed by end of the current fiscal year and operations are anticipated to begin from Q1 FY2021. The owned sorting centres will create ample opportunities for investment in complete automation and implementation of business intelligent tools which will result in direct cost reduction benefits, shorter turnaround time and enhanced operational efficiencies in the long run. Chander Agarwal, Managing Director, TCI Express, says, “The target capital expenditure outlay for the year has been revised to Rs 80 crore which will essentially be utilised towards construction and IT infrastructure. The investment in two new sorting centres will generate new growth opportunities for business and create value for all our stakeholders in the long run.”

The Union Government is conducting a nationwide survey to identify delay points in the cargo movement. The survey is being conducted simultaneously across 15 ports — sea, air, land and dry — that account for 81 per cent of bills of entries for import and 67 per cent of shipping bills for export. From August 1-7, surveys were conducted for seaport and inland container depots and for air cargo, the survey is getting conducted in the first week of September. The exercise to identify bottlenecks and their removal is supposed to expedite the cargo movement and escalate the trade. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), under the Department of Revenue, is carrying out the survey. The nationwide survey will look at causes of delays in movement of consignment caused by regulatory constraints, logistical issues in supply chains, or lack of infrastructure.

S Ramakrishna, Chairman, Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) urged for greater collaboration between FFFAI and Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA) for mutual benefits and enhancement of bilateral trade, at the Silver Jubilee Celebration function of NEFFA. Currently, freight forwarders in Nepal are showing concerns over irrational charges levied by shipping lines operating container services between India-Nepal route including labour charges, additional surcharges and demurrage charges resulting in increase in logistics cost. In addition, congestion at dry ports and exorbitant registration charges to use of government’s cargo tracking system remain other areas of concern.

DHL Express commenced the second leg of its ‘Yellow Yatra’ program in Delhi. The multi-city series is focused on equipping entrepreneurs from small and medium enterprises across India with the requisite knowledge to win in international e-commerce. The program aims to be a single platform that connects entrepreneurs to a wider e-commerce ecosystem comprising payment gateways, web development, SaaS, logistics and experts with a deep knowledge of online marketplaces, digital marketers and tax consultants. In Delhi, DHL Express is supporting entrepreneurs in leveraging this massive opportunity by enabling exports for sectors like apparels, handicrafts, home décor and books to markets such as USA, Europe, Australia, Japan and UAE. This also includes the Rs 100 crore investment made in expanding its Delhi Gateway at IGI airport that has doubled DHL Express’ export clearance capacity. RS Subramanian, Country Manager, DHL Express India, said, “SMEs are a crucial growth engine for the Indian economy, and a significant segment that constitutes more than 70 per cent of our business in India. With the growth of cross-border e-commerce, we have been deeply focused on empowering them with the right tools to prosper internationally through initiatives such as ‘Yellow Yatra’. Our extensive local, regional and global network is the key enabler for local entrepreneurs who wish to grow beyond borders.” Trivia According to DHL’s ‘21st Century Spice Trade report, the cross-border market is expected to grow by about 25 per cent annually, nearly twice the rate of domestic e-commerce and a growth rate that most traditional retail markets would dream of achieving. By 2020, people around the world will spend $1 trillion on cross-border e-commerce, and one out of five e-commerce dollars will be generated through …