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.”

Digital integration and technological remodeling are imperative for simpler, cost-effective, convenient, transparent and accurate implementation of supply chain functioning. LogYcode has launched the mobile app to serve the need of the hour. With the app, the user can now check and compare live market freight rates, book shipments, refer to tariffs, create and manage freight documents, track shipments, get bill invoices, book transportation, 24×7 chatbot and customer service, on the go using the LogYcode Mobile Application which is freely available on Google Play store for download. This is the 21st century, which is mushrooming towards technological infinity, positioning people’s expectation at the zenith degree. Logistics industry is no exception in terms of technological advancement. The industry is enduring the progress steadily, however, still lags for handy and consumer friendly processes. It is high time the cargo fraternity experiences easy access platforms and applications to effectuate supply chain tasks. Why not have pocket logistics services!

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.

FreightBro, associated with the Journal of Commerce, hosted their first India Logistics Technology Summit at the Centre of Incubation and Business Acceleration, Navi Mumbai. The summit witnessed sessions on how software can make key ocean freight processes and capabilities more efficient and less costly, potentially positioning India as the key growth market for world trade in the coming years. The panel discussion brought up interesting conversations and observations; plug and play software start-ups offer a layer of flexibility and standardisation to the freight-forwarding community, the technology platforms act as salespersons reducing customer acquisition costs and older players are opening up to technology once they realize that it is enabling them in all possible ways.

Maersk partnered with BlackBuck to provide an online marketplace for containerised trucking in EXIM logistics in India. The Indian government has set ambitions to reduce logistics cost from 14 per cent of the GDP to less than 9 per cent by 2022. The new platform will be owned and operated by BlackBuck with Maersk supporting BlackBuck to develop compelling industry-specific solutions. The neutral platform will be open to the whole industry and will empower sustainable growth and efficiency by reducing touchpoints in the supply chain; thereby improving customer experience, matching demand-supply through the year and providing consistency in service delivery through real-time visibility and control.

With a launch of Relay-as-a-Service (RaaS), the company aims to bring benefits of its disruptive relay trucking model to millions of fleet owners and truck pilots in India. RaaS will be offered to fleet owners using its technology, pilots and countrywide network of relay pit-stops. Relay Trucking is an operating model where drivers change over after every few hundred kilometers of driving through a network of relay pit-stops and then get rostered back to their home base to return to their families every single day. Gazal Kalra, Co-founder, Rivigo, said, “With RaaS, we aim to offer the benefits of relay trucking to millions of fleet owners in India and bring in efficiencies in the logistics industry while directly addressing one the biggest challenges of chronic truck driver shortage. In addition to the relay network, technology and pilots, we will be making our fuel, maintenance, cashless payment solutions also available to fleet owners in the country through RaaS. Rivigo’s mission is to make logistics in India humane, more efficient and offer better service. Offering RaaS to fleet owners in the country is a significant step in that direction.” Ramratan Singhi, Owner, Sure Cargo Logistics, a fleet of 70 Bharat Benz trucks and who has signed up for the RaaS program, said, “RaaS model helps make trucking efficient. We achieved 25-30 per cent extra running per month per truck through RaaS, compared to using our resources. Hub-hub TAT was excellent, and the use of tech in all aspects of operations (fuel, maintenance) is helping us see the areas of concern in our trucks. It frees our management time and resources on getting more business while our trucks are operated by RIVIGO Relay …

The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India held its 12th Executive Committee Meeting at The Ashok in New Delhi, which was attended by all office bearers and many EC members of the Federation. On this occasion, FFFAI invited the special guests John Joseph, Member (Tax Policy), Additional Charge-Member (IT, Legal & CV) CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) and L Satya Srinivasa, Joint Secretary, Customs, Government of India to address and interact on current operational issues pertaining to Customs and fast clearance of cargo across the country. Later, the EC of FFFAI focused on ground situation and role of FFFAI to jointly resolve the issues along with the government.

Cogoport has extended its services to reefer shipping for Indian perishables exporters and importers. India’s perishables trades have seen double-digit growth in recent years and Cogoport said refrigerated exports from the country grew by 27 per cent last year. At the same time, refrigerated imports from markets including Germany, South Korea and Russia are also on the rise, driven by demand from India’s growing middle class. Purnendu Shekhar, Founder & Chief Executive of Cogoport, said, “We are now able to pass on the benefits of Cogoport digital shipping to customers who move refrigerated goods, typically SMEs moving seafood, fruit and vegetables, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.” “Customers using our platform confirm they save 10-15 per cent on their logistics costs, including as many as 40-man hours per shipment, and we are delighted to now extend those efficiencies to refrigerated cargo,” he adds.

CBRE South Asia has announced the findings of ‘India Industrial and Logistics Market View, H1 2019’. The report says, 3PL sector contributed close to 56 per cent of total absorption during H1 2019 compared to 31 per cent in H2 2018. As per the report, logistics leasing in the country recorded a growth of 31 per cent on a yearly basis, crossing 13 million sq. ft. Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore accounted for more than 60 per cent of leasing activity, as per the CBRE report titled ‘India Industrial and Logistics Market View, H1 2019’. Speaking on the report, Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO – India, South East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE, said, “While the overall pipeline for the sector is expected to be around 60 million sq. ft. till 2020, at least 22 million sq. ft. of this supply is anticipated to be released by leading players. We also expect logistics leasing activity to strengthen owing to consolidation/expansion by occupiers. In addition, as per our APAC Investor Intention Survey, 2019, India was among the top five investment destinations in APAC. Industrial and logistics was also one of the top segments expected to be targeted by investors in 2019.”

Responding to marginal rebound in July 2019 merchandise exports data, Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, FIEO, said that growth in exports shows resilience of the Indian exporting community even during such tough times and sluggishness in the global economy. Saraf is of the view that the reflection of sluggish global demand and uncertainties emanating from tariff war is clearly visible in the slowdown in exports across the globe. Major product category which contribute to the country’s exports basket was in the negative territory such as the petroleum, plastic & linoleum, cotton yarn/fabs/made-ups, handloom products etc., engineering goods, gems & jewellery, leather & leather products besides some of the agri sector of exports also showed de-growth during the month.