DB Schenker collaborates with Microsoft to accelerate the logistics service provider’s transformation towards becoming a leading global digital logistics company. Within this collaboration, DB Schenker has set the next milestones for the evolution of its future ‘logistics-as-a-service’ approach. Markus Sontheimer, CIO/CDO, DB Schenker, says, “Our digital services will create value for our customers by making supply chains more data-driven and efficient. Using Microsoft Azure will boost our ability to seamlessly connect our cloud- based services with our real-world logistics solutions.” Ulrich Homann, Corporate Vice President & Distinguished Architect, Cloud + AI at Microsoft said, “Investments in digital technologies help companies reimagine their businesses and build more agile and resilient operations. By harnessing Microsoft Azure, DB Schenker enables organizations to redefine their supply chains and accelerate the delivery of new customer value.” DB Schenker will migrate key infrastructure services to Azure. This will enhance security, speed and scalability of DB Schenker’s cloud-based services. DB Schenker has already commenced the first cloud migration projects by using the Azure Migration Program in several country organizations. AMP supports with best practices, guidance, direct access to Azure engineers, tools and subsidized partner services. A new Big Data service on Azure will enable DB Schenker to analyse and optimise volumes, capacities and supply chain performance in near-real time.

DP World and UNICEF have announced a wide-ranging partnership to support the global distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and related immunisation supplies in low and lower middle-income countries. The new partnership – with a multi-million dollar value – is the largest to date to support UNICEF’s lead role in procuring and supplying 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines and auxiliary vaccination supplies on behalf of the COVAX Facility. DP World and UNICEF will also collaborate on other global programs in support of education, health, women’s empowerment and water and sanitation. DP World will provide UNICEF with logistics solutions and supply-chain expertise. By using DP World’s warehouse facilities in Dubai, UNICEF will have optimised access to many countries. In addition, DP World has committed to leveraging its global logistics infrastructure and services on a pro-bono basis in support of COVID-19 vaccine logistics needs, including transport, port and storage requirements in countries where DP World is present. Dubai is currently used by UNICEF as a strategic hub for pre-positioning auxiliary materials needed for the COVID-19 vaccine campaigns, such as syringes and safety boxes. The partnership was signed by Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director, and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, DP World. It arose from UNICEF’s collaboration with the World Economic Forum’s Supply Chain and Transport Community, of which DP World is a member and explores how the community collectively could support an equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccines globally. “Distributing COVID-19 vaccines is humanity’s biggest logistics challenge since the end of the Second World War,” said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. “We offer our infrastructure and expertise to support this effort because everyone should have access to vaccines, especially the most …

21CC Education has partnered with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to provide skill-based education specifically for the logistics and transportation industry. The partnership is pioneering in its effort to present an opportunity for thousands of users present on NSDC’s eSkillIndia portal and in its skilling ecosystem to not only upskill, but also help a largely unaddressed demographic in the Indian workforce build robust careers in the logistics, transportation and supply chain sectors. Sanjay Tiwari, Co-Founder of 21CC Education, says, “The trend is clear- it is time to change the face of logistics and transportation. It is time to invest in people and in using resources to upskill and reskill them. Through this new association with NSDC, our young and robust workforce will have the opportunity to not only be gainfully employed, but also build a legitimate career by training with us.”

Since the annual financial budget is soon to be delivered by the Finance Minister, Sunil Arora, President, Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) shares the expectations from government. He says, “We need to be honest to ourselves and so does our government need to be truly honest towards air cargo industry. For our government, aviation means nothing else other than two A’s which are Airlines and Airports. What about agents and allied stakeholders? Industry is suffering and it’s unfortunate that pandemic has taken us back by few years. We do not expect any miracle or direct stimulus from this financial budget . The government and civil aviation Ministry in particular does not considers logistics and cargo as a significant contributor in the economic progress. We have been for years only talking to protect our National Airline, Industry desires and requests to MoCA on various fronts should be heard as priority . Logistics are intergral supporters of EXIM industry. We want government to focus on reduction of logistics cost , freight rates and operational expenses. Industry expects a much better facilitation work environment.” He continues, “A robust fully integrated comprehensive universal IT platform is required across Indian custom ports and gateways upon which our exporters, importers and supply chain managers can rely upon. We want all stakeholders to talk one language and same methodology pan India. All allied agencies are yet not on board since years. Another concern is the ever increasing cost of logistics which is a big burden. We appreciate market driven competition but not at the overnight increase in freight rates. Direct intervention and control by government is necessary and expected in this budget to slow the …

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is all set to present the Union Budget 2021-22 in Lok Sabha on February 1, 2021. Since last year was quite difficult for everyone, all eyes are on Budget 2021-22 to get some remedies, grants and relaxation. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has promised a never before like Union Budget as the Modi government looks to give a further boost to Indian economy. CargoTalk talks to industry veterans to understand industry’s requirements from the government and what are they looking for in Budget 2021-22.

“It is imperative to give priority to seafarers and port & shipping personnel in the COVID-19 vaccination drive,” says, Capt Ram R Iyer, President, Maritime Association, in adding, “All waterfront workers- Shipping & logistics personnel should also be granted due priority for vaccination drive undertaken by the authorities. International Chamber of Shipping has given a clarion to governments worldwide to put seafarers and frontline maritime shore workers ahead of the vaccine queue and alleviate the Global humanitarian `crew change crisis’. Indian Government has been spearheading initiatives on this front and this presently needs the added push to facilitate and ensure India’s continued global eminence as a leading supplier of manpower in shipping & maritime industry. Ship agents and full spectrum of shipping & logistic players all across India have been providing continued, unstinting services with great agility and sincerity, despite all COVID-19 restrictions, challenges and being dangerously exposed during the pandemic to ensure continued seamless movement of India’s Maritime EXIM trade. The need to facilitate continued digital push and ensure ‘Enhanced Ease of Doing Business’ in ports, shipping & logistics arena with a committed focus on practicality and addressing real time issues. Whilst much has been done on the digitisation and in government’s continued endeavours in ‘Ease of Doing Business’ over the last few years, there is still plenty of scope and room for improvement in practical implementation of same at the Policy levels as well at grass root levels of implementation. Government authorities would need to reaffirm their change in attitudinal policy to be ‘Facilitator of legitimate trade’ as against being a ‘Trade regulator’.

According to Rajiv Agarwal, CEO and Managing Director, Essar Ports, “Our Prime Minister’s vision of making India – A Global Manufacturing Hub and becoming US$ 5 trillion economy, will be one of the key objectives of the upcoming budget. Ports will play a pivotal role in achieving this objective and the budget should also focus on increasing the contribution of Ports sector to the country’s GDP. Ports is a significant driver of EXIM trade hence it becomes necessary to keep logistics cost low to encourage exports. Indirect taxes on port services has increased to 18% GST as industries like Thermal Power Plants, Fertilizer and Refineries are needed to pay higher logistics and manufacturing cost (on account of no GST Credit) for their raw material movement like Coal, LNG and Crude Oil, POL etc. This is impacting the competitiveness of sea transport as an option as compared to rail and roads that are less environment friendly modes of transport. Hence, GST for sea transport should be reduced to 12% for more sustainable benefits.” Presently, PPP Projects and Major Port Trusts compete for cargo at Ports, which leads to conflict of interest. It is important that Major Ports should act as enablers with PPP projects driving the growth. To further strengthen the current position of the industry players, it is critical for ports to be given enough autonomy and decision making power to stay ahead in terms of modernisation and technological enhancements.Mechanized berths, sufficient stockyard and multimodal evacuation systems for fast turnaround of vessels are key enablers for productivity and efficiency of Ports & Terminals. To achieve this, investments will be required in dredging, developing adequate civil infrastructure and securing land along …

As India sets sights on the Union Budget 2021-22, Abhik Mitra, MD & CEO, Spoton Logistics, stresses upon few key pain points of the logistics industry that must be addressed in this year’s budget. He says, “With logistics holding the economy together even during the COVID-19 pandemic and set to play an even more crucial role in current times, the government must look at providing the much-required financial and infrastructural support to the sector. With India’s aim to reduce the logistics cost from the current 14 per cent of GDP to less than 10 per cent, it is imperative for the government to bring about a ground-breaking transformation in the logistics sector that encapsulates an increased use of digital technologies and automation. We urge the government to take dedicated measures to boost digitalisation so as to drive transparency and bring in the required predictability in logistics. Another key step that the government must take is to bring fuel under the purview of GST as this could fundamentally transform the Indian logistics sector. While goods are moved from one place to another, it is generally required for the transporter to carry a hard copy of the invoice, the government must also do away with this by way of e-way bill digitalisation.” “On the demand side, the government can look at driving the overall consumption which could be achieved by reducing personal income tax and GST on various goods, etc,” he adds.

According to Aneel Gambhir, CFO, Blue Dart, “While the onset of the pandemic affected the logistics sector, the sector has stood the test of time by supporting the movement of essentials and non-essentials when the nation was under lockdown. We expect the government’s full support to revive the sector and in order to do so, the logistics cost should be reduced from the present 14 per cent of GDP to less than 10 per cent since high logistics cost is impacting the competitiveness of domestic goods in the international market. Investing in better road infrastructure will fasten the movement of goods, help in reducing the costs and improve turnaround time for vehicles. Improvement of air infrastructure and connectivity will help the logistics industry to boost this sector. Electric vehicles have the potential to aid in last-mile delivery while also adding to environmental protection. The Government should incentivize the use of electrical vehicles and focus on strengthening the infrastructure for enabling easy manufacturing and usage of EVs and EV-related elements. Similarly, Government could consider rolling back additional taxes levied on Petrol and diesel prices. The additional taxes levied during the pandemic are hurting the cost of transportation. It is also leading to high inflation.”

The year 2020 has disrupted and challenged the logistics sector in different ways. However, the logistics sector still serves as one of the key economic drivers because of its thriving infrastructure and improved connectivity. Sharing his expectations from Union Budget 2021, Prem Kishan Dass Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director, Gateway Distriparks, says, “We expect strong support and initiatives for the EXIM industry which will help in increasing volumes. We hope the budget will have enhanced allocation to the Indian Railways for completion of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) project at the earliest, so that the industry can benefit from the new rail infrastructure at this time when the focus is to increase manufacturing in India. This will immensely benefit ports, exporters, importers, shipping lines, container train operators and other consumers of rail transport.” “As a Logistics company, we are looking at government’s increased investment in infrastructure, which will provide further impetus to boost the overall economy,” he adds.