The Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations in India (FFFAI) organised women’s wing delegation visit to India-Bangladesh Border with an objective to explore opportunities as well as understand challenges especially for the women professionals in logistics business. The Women’s Wing of FFFAI paid a visit to Petrapole (India in West Bengal)-Benapole (Bangladesh) border on August 6, 2023 which was led by Chaitaly Mehta, Convenor, Women’s Wing, FFFAI. Mehta said, “Petrapole is managed by the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) where LPAI administers and manages all the facilities, infrastructure, etc with futuristic views. It was very interesting to learn and see Women working in Petrapole. Women workforce at LPAI constitutes more than 12% of its total employees at this Land Port. The Women Workforce is maximum in BSF followed by Customs, Immigration etc. The purpose of the visit was to understand what differentiates an ICP from an airport to a sea port and ICD, how logistics activities are carried out at an ICP and what exactly is an ICP. Especially, challenges before the women logistics practitioners at a border customs post were the focus area.”

The warehousing and industrial sector of India is expected to expand up to 516 million sq. ft by 2026, states research firm, JLL’s H1 2023 India: Logistics and Industrial State of the Nation study. Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru are the major contributors to this expansion, while the top three cities in terms of demand are Mumbai, Pune, and Delhi NCR. For net absorption or new leases, the top eight cities in the country consisted of 15 million sq. ft., and third-party logistics operators made up for 43% of the demand in their leasing market. That marked a notable increase from the previous year where it was for 35% in H1 2022. Meanwhile, the lease share of the FMCG and retail industry went down to 15% in the current year from 23% in 2022. A similar decrease was also seen in India’s gross absorption, including renewals and churnings, which fell to 20 million sq. ft. in 2023 from 23 million sq. ft. last year.

To become a global cargo hub, India must compete with established hubs like Dubai, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Offering unique value propositions and seamless services is essential,” says Keku Bomi Gazder, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Aviapro Logistic Services. Also, innovation is vital for sustained growth. A lack of investment in research and development may hinder the industry’s ability to adopt cutting-edge technologies. Streamlining processes and adopting technology for seamless clearance is necessary. While India has made progress in infrastructure development, there’s still a need for further investment in ports, roadways, railways, and airports to handle larger cargo volumes efficiently. Inadequate intermodal connectivity often leads to delays and increased costs. Improving last-mile connectivity and creating efficient multimodal transportation networks is essential too.”

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) was honored as the ‘Best Cargo Airport – Efficiency & Digitization’ at the recently concluded India Cargo Awards 2023 in New Delhi. Piyush Srivastava, IES, Senior Economic Advisor graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Known as the “Oscars of the Cargo Industry,” the India Cargo Awards 2023 hosted by Cargo Talk (DDP Group Publication) serves as an all-India platform created with a vision to recognise excellence in the Cargo-Freight-Logistics Industry across various domains, including Rail, Road, Air, Sea, Allied Services, Warehousing, Technology, 3rd Party Logistics, and more. Our world-class awards ceremonies are known for their formal Black-Tie affair, filled with glitz and glamour, attended by the most influential personalities in the Cargo Industry.

Focusing on the need for the digital air freight corridors in India, C K Govil, Vice President ACAAI and CMD, Activair Airfreight says, “These digital pathways optimise the flow of large volumes of cargo data between two nations or air cargo authorities. This innovation can promote a real-time exchange of information on shipment visibility between two parties. A step was taken in this direction when Kale Logistics signed an MoU with Cargonaut in 2018 to facilitate a digital air corridor between Mumbai and Schiphol airports. The industry needs digital air freight corridors. While other challenges include, inadequate government support and infrastructure to handle transhipments and perishable goods. Imposition of GST on export freight is also detrimental to the growth of air cargo and impact the Indian air cargo industry’s momentum towards achieving 10 million tonnes by 2030. Even the frequent breakdown of ICEGATE results in goods not being cleared/missing deadlines/additional terminal charges and airfreight rates.”

Logistics unicorn Xpressbees has acquired the courier firm Trackon in an all-cash transaction to enter the SME courier space. The deal would leverage Xpressbees’ existing network to scale up Trackon nationwide, said reports. Trackon has primarily focused on the northern and western parts of the country, serving around 5,000 pin codes. Xpressbees is present across 15,000 pin codes. “We will expand Trackon using our network and also look at cross-selling our existing services through the franchise network of Trackon,” Amitava Saha, the CEO of Xpressbees, said in a statement. “I firmly believe it will empower our respective businesses, change consumer experience for the better, and enable us to build significant synergies across the two organisations,” added Saha. As part of the deal, Prabhat Kumar Anand, founder and CMD of Trackon, will continue to lead the business for at least the next two years. Cofounders Pramod Kumar Singh, Dinesh Rautela and Yoginder Kumar Dabas will move on as part of the acquisition. “Our partnership with Xpressbees enables us to scale up our business and reach quite significantly. By combining our experience with the capabilities of Xpressbees we will be able to expand our service lines to our existing clients while continuing to offer best-in-class services,” said Anand.

Block your dates for India’s highly anticipated and power-packed show on cold chain storage and transportation. Being organized by WIZ, Cold Chain Unbroken (CCUB) 2023 will be held on 14-15 September at Taj Bengaluru. The key points of discussion will include cold chain storage, handling and transportation, adequate infrastructure and skilled manpower for ground handling and transportation of products such as pharma and perishables, tech integration, government policies to facilitate EoDB and a lot more. Several industry stalwarts and stakeholders, including airports, airlines, freight forwarders, shipping lines, trucking companies, custodians are expected to take part in the show. The two-day event will provide a platform to meet and exchange ideas and collaborate.

Çelebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India was felicitated as ‘Best Air Cargo Terminal Operator’ award at the recently concluded India Cargo Awards 2023 in New Delhi. Piyush Srivastava, IES, Senior Economic Advisor graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Known as the “Oscars of the Cargo Industry,” the India Cargo Awards 2023 hosted by Cargo Talk (DDP Group Publication) serves as an all-India platform created with a vision to recognise excellence in the Cargo-Freight-Logistics Industry across various domains, including Rail, Road, Air, Sea, Allied Services, Warehousing, Technology, 3rd Party Logistics, and more. Our world-class awards ceremonies are known for their formal Black-Tie affair, filled with glitz and glamour, attended by the most influential personalities in the Cargo Industry.

The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) organised a meeting to discuss on the role of Inland Waterways and Land Ports with an objective of promoting cross border trade by effective utilization of multimodal transport systems. The meet held on August 4, 2023, in Kolkata, was addressed by Shankar Shinde, Chairman, FFFAI; Aditya Mishra, IPS, Chairman, Land Port Authority of India; Arvind Kumar, Director, Inland Waterways Authority of India; Dushyant Mulani, Chairman Elect, FFFAI. Sudip Dey Vice Chariman FFFAI elaborated on the importance and recent developments on Inland Waterways and land ports in facilitating international trade, especially in the East/Northeast region of India. “The initiatives of the Government of India in promoting inland waterways and land ports to increase cross border trade are highly commendable. FFFAI is committed to support the Government’s initiatives in this regard for the larger interest of the EXIM trade,” said Shinde. He also pointed out the government’s initiatives on creating the infrastructure, connectivity, and bilateral talks to increase EXIM trade with the South Asia & ASEAN countries. And such initiatives are not only limited to expanding our Indian trade but also support the 3rd country transshipment cargo facilitation with land lock countries providing Indian Gateway ports,” he said.

C K Govil, Vice President, ACAAI shares that the world looks up to India for a constant supply of pharmaceuticals and several crucial consumables like rice. A focus on infrastructure and air cargo related policies can help make India a global air cargo hub. For instance, an Open Skies Policy, lower taxes on air exports, focus on reducing ATF prices to improve the air logistics costs, and pushing digitalisation and embracing artificial intelligence in processes are some steps that can work wonders for the Indian air cargo industry. Besides, the idea of digital air freight corridors has been floating in the global air cargo industry for a while now. These digital pathways optimise the flow of large volumes of cargo data between two nations or air cargo authorities. This idea can promote a real-time exchange of information on shipment visibility between two parties. A step was taken in this direction when Kale Logistics signed an MOU with Cargonaut in 2018 to facilitate a digital air corridor between Mumbai and Schiphol airports.