Category Archives: Rail/Road

According to ICRA, the Indian Road logistic sector is likely to witness healthy growth in FY2022 on the back of demand recovery and improved business activities. This optimistic lookout is supported by the favorable scenario that has presented itself in recent times, wherein most players reported strong growth in freight volumes on a sequential basis in the second quarter of FY’22, and the momentum is likely to continue in the third quarter of the ongoing fiscal. A stable outlook was maintained by the domestic rating agency for the Indian road logistic sector. After a subdued Q1 FY’22 on account of the second wave of COVID-19, demand recovery and improved business activities from Q2 FY’22 onwards, led to better asset utilization, which, along with cost-rationalization measures, supported the operating margins in the current fiscal, Icra said in a statement. Demand from segments like e-commerce, FMCG, retail, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and industrial goods coupled with an industry paradigm shift towards organized logistics players, post the GST and E-way bill implementation will keep the growth steady over the medium-term.

With the perspective to de-congest the capital city, along with other benefits, NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) will be proposing to shift the majority of warehouses from within Delhi to the peripheries of the city i.e. the upcoming Urban Extension Road (UER) and the Eastern and Western Expressways. The Center plans to hold a meeting with the Delhi Government to discuss this initiative further, which is also expected to decrease the number of heavy goods vehicles entering the capital and divert them to the outskirts instead. “You all are aware and you also experience the ill effects from air pollution in Delhi and around. Now we have built two expressways around the national capital.Large godowns and warehouses can come along these expressways and there will be less need of trucks and other heavy goods vehicles to enter Delhi, which will reduce congestion and air pollution.” said Nitin Gadkari, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister National Highways Logistics Management System – a special purpose entity of NHAI – has already formulated a detailed plan for the proposed system and has identified the warehouses that can be shifted along the peripheral expressways and the UER area. The UER connects Delhi with Jaipur, Rohtak and Chandigarh via national highways and is scheduled to be wrapped up by August next year.

The latest report by the Indian Foundation of Transport Research & Training (IFTRT) says, there has been a 15%-20% extra arrival of fresh fruits and vegetables into APMCs. “Factory output and exports have also remained brisk helping truckers to post robust revenue for last two quarters,” said SP Singh, senior fellow & coordinator, IFTRT. The migration to CNG is also being seen as a factor in helping transporters improve their margins. “There have been large scale migration of 10-15.5 tonne medium and light commercial vehicles from diesel fuel to CNG which has further helped the fleet owners of this category make more money per tonne/km,” said Singh. The report said that the flat diesel price throughout December and the buoyancy in the overall economy in agri-food business, trade commerce, and industry including exports have allowed the increase in truck rentals.

With a recent collaboration, India’s leading electric scooter company Hero Electric and Gurugram-based last mile mobility solutions start-up BattWheelz have joined forces to electrify last mile deliveries. BattWheelz offers mobility solutions to e-commerce and hyperlocal grocery companies and with this collaboration, it plans to deploy nearly 4,000 electric two-wheelers by FY23. “Our constant endeavour is to hasten the electric mobility transition in India and thrusting the same through our B2B partnerships with complete EV solutions across India. This partnership highlights our shared vision of offering eco-friendly mobility solutions and the direct advantage of adopting electric mobility in terms of savings and contribution to safeguarding the environment.” said Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric.

The Indian Railways has decided to forgo close to Rs 700 crore a year that it collects from companies running freight businesses on its network. Under a new cargo policy, which came into effect on December 15, owners of private sidings, or short railway tracks, and private freight stations — about 1,200 in total— will no longer have to pay land licensing fees for using railway tracks that connect their private sites to the nearest rail line. The cargo policy was rolled out after the railway board had approved a 76-page document titled Gati-Shakti Multimodal Cargo Terminal (GCT) policy on the premise that the national transporter will now focus more on leveraging its land resources rather than simply earning some money out of it, according to an officer close to the development. So, the decision to forgo a sizable fixed earning, that too at a time when the pandemic has eroded its revenue base, is based on a risky calculation that such a waiver will woo more private players into cargo terminal businesses, which in turn will augment the Railways’ freight movement and revenue. And that will not only offset the losses to be incurred due to the waiver, but will fetch more profit.

Sampark India logistics, an independent leading services provider evolving the interplay of infrastructure, technology, trained manpower and transportation facilities. Recently, Sampark India was a logistics partner for the Filmfare OTT awards 2021 wherein the legends of Bollywood got together with the leader of the Logistics industry. The company is ramping up its efforts to enter the new target market with plan to diversifying its revenue streams with higher standards of excellence ensured at each level. By focusing on the need of the hour the company provides unparelled logistics services at the global level. We at Sampark consider the good management of logistics as vital and provide fast, reliable, on demand industry solutions with its leading-edge networks. Sampark offers a complete range of end–to-end Supply Chain capability from manufacturer to end customer. We always try to satisfy customer’s requirement with Cost Effectiveness & limited time frame.

Gujrat Pipavav Ports and Indian Railways’ joint venture – Pipavav Rail Corporation – launched a regular double stack, hub-and-spoke rail connection to Jodhpur last week. APM Terminals Pipavav is a growing private harbour on India’s west coast and rolled out customer-centric container rail services connecting to Jodhpur Inland Container Depot, a key interior point in the north. The move was made keeping in mind the growing importance of value added services in long-haul freight contracts and the shift of terminal operators’ priority towards inland services. It increases the carrying capacity per trip from 90 teu to the double figure of 180 teu. The initiative is likely to help the trade to connect with their markets quickly and competitively. It is a weekly service but not always double-stack” APMT Pipavav

Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari while addressing the National Conference on Investment Opportunities in Highways, Transport and Logistics invited investors and urged them to take advantage of the diverse opportunities spanning asset classes in the infrastructure sector, including highways, multimodal logistics parks, wayside amenities, ropeways, and warehousing zones. At the conference, Gadkari said, “The internal rate of return in the road sector is very high and, hence, there is no need to worry about economic viability.” He informed that the government has addressed the early delays due to land acquisition, and now, projects are not awarded before 90% of land acquisition is complete and environment clearances are obtained. Highlighting the benefits of projects under the Bharatmala program Gadkari said, “Travel time from Mumbai to Delhi, via road, will go down from 48 to 12 hours in one year; road and multimodal infrastructure projects will reduce logistics costs and boost manufacturing, increase exports and help the economy grow.”

In its latest joint report with Indospace titled ‘Electric Mobility in Full Gear’, Colliers estimates that the Electric Vehicles (EVs) segment in India is likely to witness investments of USD12.6 billion or INR94,000 crore across the automotive value chain, over the next five years. The investments are likely to benefit the Indian real estate sector in the form of setting up new or augmenting manufacturing units, industrial parks, and clusters with focus on last mile delivery by E-commerce firms and 3PL companies, government push for electrification of public transport, tax benefits and incentives for first time buyers amongst others. Tamil Nadu is the frontrunner accounting for about 34% share in total planned investments for EV, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Haryana with a share of 12% and 9% respectively. Currently, 15 Indian States have either approved or notified EV policies, with 6 more states in the draft stage. States like Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Meghalaya are focusing on demand incentives, whereas southern states and Uttar Pradesh are focusing on manufacturer-based incentives. States like Maharashtra, Delhi and Gujarat having strong demand side incentives should have provisions to set up industrial parks/clusters for EV or manufacturing of ancillary components with plug-and-play.

APM Terminals, Pipavav in collaboration with Pipavav Railway Corporation Limited (PRCL), is now going offer double stack rail service to Jodhpur via Sanand on a hub & spoke model, which will further provide access to other ICDs in India. The service is managed by PRCL, the joint venture between Gujarat Pipavav Port Ltd. and Indian Railways, the first such service by PRCL. Customer centricity is at the core of all our initiatives. The rail connection to Jodhpur via Sanand on hub and spoke model will give an edge to our customers in connecting to their markets/ICDs quickly. We extend all our support to the PRCL to make this connection big success.” Jakob Friis Sorenson, APM Terminals Pipavav The hub & spoke arrangement via Sanand will ensure timely evacuation from the port in lesser dwell time there by swift movement of the cargoe for the customers. The initiative is likely to help the trade to connect with their markets quickly and competitively.