Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, Cargo Service Center, who participated in Digital Conclave on May 5 on need for world-class cold chain infrastructure to store and transport Pharma in India said we have great infra for cold storage and it is only going to grow. “We have seen mobile technology, we have just jump on the 5 G technology now, that’s what’s happening here in the Indian cold chain business, beginning has been done, its going to spread now, ad very soon we will have reliable cold chain business coming out of India, with many industry players investing in it, our country will now lead the way, not only that India will set up a corridor now to the destination market, so some of us would venture in the other part of the world. We will have great infrastructure for cold chain distribution right from manufacturer till end customer. So you will have dedicated air connectivity, dedicated trucking, distribution. We will have big scale development coming up in the next 1-2 years.”

I have travelled across the world and India is doing far better than many countries when it comes to multimodal storage and transportation of pharmaceuticals in the world, said Satish Lakkaraju, Senior VP, Global Head-Air Freight and Pharma, WIZ Freight, Radar Ventures. He participated in CargoTalk and CSC Digital Conclave on May 5. As far as infrastructure is concerned, India has developed many pharma zones which are not very common and are not seen in other parts of the world. The terminal operators themselves have invested in huge infrastructure. The understanding of pharma is superior in India than most of the developed countries airports. The airports in Delhi, Mumbai Hyderabad and Bangalore predominantly have world class infra but in the days to come Ahmedabad and Goa will have great infra in coming years.

Rashmi Karnad Gurung, Manager Climate Control, Qatar Airways said, “No doubt, India is the pharmacy of the world. India is the third largest supplier of generic drugs globally. India is also becoming the new upcoming industry for medical devices which will bring India on top in the next two decades. India definitely has world-class infrastructure to store, handle and transport pharma at some of the major airports. There are large investments happening in terms of infrastructural and tech development. said, Rashmi participated in the digital conclave organised by CargoTalk and CSC on May 5. She added, “Considering the size of the country, India needs more development in cold chain storage and distribution sector. There’s definitely room for growth. India is capable of more. Some of the regional airports may need more development to avoid the current bottlenecks for multimodal transportation. More player could step in. We will definitely get there.”

At recently held digital conclave on Indian cold chain shipments handling and transportation, industry experts discussed about improving infra at airports and terminals and crucial pain points of stakeholders. “As far as understanding pharmaceuticals is concerned I would rate India on eight out of 10. There are some areas in airports which need improvement but those have nothing to do with terminals. In India, some airports are at larger advantage because they started as a greenfield airport but brownfield airports need attention. We will be having new airports soon that are taking infrastructure as a priority. Skilled manpower is another area which needs attention but improving simultaneously,” opined Satish Lakkaraju, Senior VP, Global Head-Air Freight and Pharma, WIZ Freight, Radar Ventures. Talking about crucial pain points, Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, Cargo Service Center said, “Infrastructure for cold chain is definitely improving. Mumbai airport alone has the throughput capacity of 14,000 MT per month. We are just doing 3-4 thousand tonnes a month. We have got capacity to handle much larger volumes. As a community, we need to educate each other, we need to collaborate with each other. There is whole data transmission which needs to come in time in a right format so it can help the process move faster.” Rashmi Karnad Gurung, Manager Climate Control Product, Qatar Airways also added, “We have everything to achieve the larger goals, we have bright minds, investments and enterprises. I feel visibility is the most impt thing today. End-to-end transparency ad visibility and tracking of shipments is required today. Lot of tech companies are also providing highly efficient tech services like shock mointoring, GPS, temp-controlled monitoring, humidity levels monitoring etc which are highly …

In its ongoing commitment to helping enterprises seamlessly manage all stages of their last-mile operations, Locus announced industry-specific enhancements of its premier, order-to-delivery Dispatch Management Platform for its growing retail, 3PL and CEP customer bases. These new features serve to unlock greater opportunities across all layers of the fulfillment ecosystem. Retail and e-commerce brands must have the right technology in place to understand their real-world delivery constraints, fulfill delivery promises at scale, use the full potential of their fleets, and facilitate seamless order-to-delivery experiences that keep customers coming back. Locus has introduced several enhancements that cater to retail and ecommerce, including: • Powering superior consumer experiences: Retail can exceed consumer expectations by offering flexible and convenient delivery options with Delivery Linked Checkout, which optimizes deliveries via capacity-led slot bookings and includes multi-speed and time-definite delivery options for same- & next-day shipments. While Locus’ Order Management & Route Planning capabilities ensure seamless returns by optimizing reverse logistics, cancellations and reattempts with advanced routing • Enabling powerful omnichannel retail experiences: Retailers can provide consumers market-leading omnichannel fulfillment with Locus ShipFlex, which automates entire carrier workflows for optimal pricing and delivers end-to-end visibility of order-to-doorstep deliveries across in-house, contracted, and outsourced fleets. Cross-fleet Utilization facilitates efficient and cost-effective fulfillment by deploying the same fleet across different legs and business. Whereas Dark Store Optimization allows retailers to centralize dark store, in-store, and FC fulfillment on a single platform 3PLs and CEPs must also keep up with today’s staggering volume of shipments to build long-term relationships with the e-tailers and manufacturers they support. Locus’ technology enables faster and more efficient last-mile logistics by automating planning processes and enhancing real-time visibility, providing an easier way to …

Get ready to participate in India’s biggest virtual meet on the Need for world-class cold chain infrastructure to store and transport Pharma in India, with top industry veterans participating as panelists focusing on various crucial aspects such as Current Infrastructure for cold chain shipments handling and multimodal transportation, recent advancements, innovations and investments in improving cold chain infra, crucial Pain points and lot more. The panelists include Satish Lakkaraju, Senior VP, Global Head-Air Freight and Pharma, WIZ Freight, Radar Ventures, Tushar Jani, Group Chairman, Cargo Service Center, Rashmi Karnad Gurung, Manager Climate Control Product, Qatar Airways. The session will be moderated by Mr. SanJeet, CEO, DDP Group. Be ready to be a part of the virtual meet on 5th May, 2023 at 11.00 a.m. being organised by CargoTalk Digital Conclave in association with Cargo Service Center (CSC). Recently, CargoTalk has collaborated with Cargo Service Center for Pharma Talkathon – A series of knowledge-sharing sessions on everything about pharma. Register now! https://lnkd.in/dwHm_Cui

Qatar Airways Cargo launches Kigali Africa Hub in partnership with RwandAir. Qatar Airways Cargo’s ‘Moved by People’ Boeing 777 freighter landed at Kigali International Airport. In the company of local dignitaries, freight forwarders, partners, and customers, Qatar Airways Cargo’s Chief Officer, Guillaume Halleux, and Yvonne Makolo, Chief Executive Officer of RwandAir officially launched operations at the Kigali Africa Hub. The Boeing 777 aircraft will fly from Doha to Kigali, twice a week. Since March, Qatar Airways Cargo has created an intra-Africa service between Kigali and Lagos (three times per week), and a weekly service from Istanbul via Doha to Kigali, all operated by an Airbus A310 aircraft. New destinations from Kigali will be announced soon. In the run-up to the Kigali Cargo Hub launch, QAS Cargo, a subsidiary of Qatar Airways, provided consultancy support to RwandAir Cargo to help improve its cargo handling performance. A team from QAS Cargo visited the cargo handling facilities and presented RwandAir with a detailed action plan for operational improvements and handling performance. The team is now working together on a future roadmap, including a proposed improvement plan for its warehouse infrastructure, which will form part of a long-term strategic plan for the cargo division of RwandAir. Guillaume Halleux, Chief Officer Cargo at Qatar Airways said: “Africa is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, yet for it to develop to its full potential requires investment in logistics infrastructures. Qatar and Rwanda have long-enjoyed bilateral trade agreements, with both Qatar Airways and Qatar Investment Authority having previously invested in Kigali International Airport and RwandAir. It was therefore a logical step that Qatar Airways Cargo supports RwandAir in its cargo ambitions. Our customers will benefit from …

Balmer Lawrie, a diverse PSE with presence in manufacturing and services sectors has opened a Container Freight Station (CFS) in Vizag. Balmer Lawrie partnered with VPA for setting up an MMLH spread over 53 acres to meet the growing logistic demands of the region. Balmer Lawrie & Company Limited, set up a Multi Modal Logistic Hub (MMLH) in JV with Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA), Visakhapatnam Port Logistics Park Limited (VPLPL). Capable of handling Exim and domestic cargo, the Exim area will have CFS, warehousing, cold storage/temperature-controlled warehouse, open cargo storage, hazardous and non-hazardous cargo handling among others. The existing facility of VPLPL is in line with PM’s Gati Shakti initiative. This apart, there is potential of leveraging Electronic Cargo Monitoring System for cargo movement to Nepal, Bangladesh through VPLPL. This is the only facility with refrigeration facility and has a huge potential for movement of refrigerated cargo as well. The CFS in VPLPL, spread over 25 acres, is the only other facility in Vizag (other than CONCOR), which has rail connectivity with the port. This will facilitate faster movement of containers from the port, besides reducing the congestion on the road. The CFS operations within the multi-modal Logistics Park of Visakhapatnam Port Logistics Park Ltd, commenced in the presence of Shri Adika Ratna Sekhar on 24 April 2023 in Visakhapatnam.

I am certain that many digital initiatives are being taken up by the Indian logistics industry stakeholders but only Logistics Data Bank is mentioned in the World’s Bank Data report, perhaps we need to upscale the initiatives being taken in the aviation sector for further improving our ranking, said Divya Satija, senior leader – DPIIT Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry). Logistics industry has taken many steps to enhance digital documentation. Govt. is launching secured logistics documentation program on ULIP, which will promote digitization of documents as well as security. The whole logistics ecosystem needs to come forward and work on boosting digitization.

DPIIT logistics division is currently moving in sync with PM’s Gati Shakti Plan. Gati Shakti aims at two things – to bring multimodality when it comes to infrastructure and connectivity and timely implementation of projects. For implementation of projects, the key issues remain time and cost, when we actually dwell into details, land acquisition and clearances becomes other major issues, said Jivisha Joshi, Deputy Secretary – DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry), at ACFI Conclave in New Delhi. We are working on improving our planning process which minimises the disruptions, and costs. NLP is another impt policy launched by the PM last year. We worked on three important goals under this policy – reduce logistics cost, improving ranking in LPI and indigenous fact systems. We have touched upon all three aspects. We have achieved great logistics efficiency and improved our ranking in LPI. We are also promoting Logistics Data Bank, it has been really helpful in measuring dwell time and tracking shipments, creating visibility and supply chain resiliency. We are trying to improve tracking and tracing of shipments by making digital system available.”