Category Archives: Supply Chain

Welcoming the much-needed booster for the exports sector, Sharad Kumar Saraf, President, FIEO said, “Slew of new measures announced for the exports sector in the form of incentives & refund of taxes, export finance, export facilitation, free trade agreements, engineering and handicrafts will not only go a long way in enhancing the growth prospects of the sector in the short-term but will also give it a much needed boost in the medium-term and long-term and will stimulate the overall economy.” FIEO Chief said that the new scheme of Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) with revenue burden of up to Rs 50,000 crore for the government, will completely replace all Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) from January 1, 2020 with the expectation that the new scheme will more than adequately incentivize the exporters than the existing schemes put together. “The new scheme looks attractive as it will neutralise all duties and levies suffered by the export products. Giving three months lead time till December 31 to the existing MEIS will remove the uncertainty creeping in the minds of the exporters and will greatly help to finalise their export orders,” he adds.

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.”

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.

S Ramakrishna, Chairman, Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) urged for greater collaboration between FFFAI and Nepal Freight Forwarders Association (NEFFA) for mutual benefits and enhancement of bilateral trade, at the Silver Jubilee Celebration function of NEFFA. Currently, freight forwarders in Nepal are showing concerns over irrational charges levied by shipping lines operating container services between India-Nepal route including labour charges, additional surcharges and demurrage charges resulting in increase in logistics cost. In addition, congestion at dry ports and exorbitant registration charges to use of government’s cargo tracking system remain other areas of concern.

DHL Express commenced the second leg of its ‘Yellow Yatra’ program in Delhi. The multi-city series is focused on equipping entrepreneurs from small and medium enterprises across India with the requisite knowledge to win in international e-commerce. The program aims to be a single platform that connects entrepreneurs to a wider e-commerce ecosystem comprising payment gateways, web development, SaaS, logistics and experts with a deep knowledge of online marketplaces, digital marketers and tax consultants. In Delhi, DHL Express is supporting entrepreneurs in leveraging this massive opportunity by enabling exports for sectors like apparels, handicrafts, home décor and books to markets such as USA, Europe, Australia, Japan and UAE. This also includes the Rs 100 crore investment made in expanding its Delhi Gateway at IGI airport that has doubled DHL Express’ export clearance capacity. RS Subramanian, Country Manager, DHL Express India, said, “SMEs are a crucial growth engine for the Indian economy, and a significant segment that constitutes more than 70 per cent of our business in India. With the growth of cross-border e-commerce, we have been deeply focused on empowering them with the right tools to prosper internationally through initiatives such as ‘Yellow Yatra’. Our extensive local, regional and global network is the key enabler for local entrepreneurs who wish to grow beyond borders.” Trivia According to DHL’s ‘21st Century Spice Trade report, the cross-border market is expected to grow by about 25 per cent annually, nearly twice the rate of domestic e-commerce and a growth rate that most traditional retail markets would dream of achieving. By 2020, people around the world will spend $1 trillion on cross-border e-commerce, and one out of five e-commerce dollars will be generated through …

TA Varghese, President, ACAAI, believes, “Liberalisation of FDI in aviation will facilitate the growth of this capital-intensive industry.” He continues, “Boost has been given to India Inc. in the budget. The plan to utilise Rs 70,000 crore for the recapitalisation of banks is likely to ease the credit crunch for business and industry. The proposal to invest Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure projects in the next five years and the plan to construct 1.25 lakh kilometres of rural roads will boost the movement of goods pan India. The Union Budget 2019-20 is a budget with a 10-year vision and a 5-year target.” The proposed-investment in infrastructure and digital economy as well as job creation in small and medium firms may generate much-needed jobs in these sectors. The first step towards achieving the objective of powering India to a $ 5 trillion economy by 2024 have been taken in this budget. Overall, this budget has sought to balance the needs of both ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’. It projects a ‘new India’ roadmap by placing great emphasis on uplifting rural India through various measures while also addressing the needs of urban India. The planned provision of access to electricity for every rural household by 2022, clean water to all rural households by 2024 and 1.9 crore houses to citizens in the next two years are steps in the right direction.

Believing the Budget 2019-20 as an ongoing task reiterating the commitments that the NDA Government has set in its vision document, S Ramakrishna, Chairman, FFFAI, says, “It is commendable the new Finance Minister presented a pragmatic Budget aiming to reach the US$ 5 trillion economy in the next few years, with required emphasis and focus on infrastructure, multimodal connectivity and logistics operation. Significantly, the government has decided to create and promote inland waterways and allied infrastructure to reduce logistics cost and boost greener environment.” It is heartening to note that after recently launched multimodal terminal at Varanasi, more similar terminals will be completed at Sahibganj and Haldia and a navigational lock will be created at Farakka by 2019-20 FY. We will be expecting more such terminals in North East India as well, like strengthening the existing terminal in Pandu (Guwahati) and new one in Jogighopa which is very strategic region from foreign trade’s perspective utilizing effective multimodal connectivity with special thrush on waterways. It would be very crucial to expedite international cargo movement to Bangladesh and beyond. Also, it is commendable the Finance Minister emphasized on resolving all litigations on fast track basis to facilitate trade and commerce. Commenting on the focus given by government to MSMEs, Ramakrishna, says, “Since predominantly we are from MSME sector, this funding would be a great boost for us.”

In a bid to bring transparency to the road freight marketplace, Rivigo has launched the National Freight Index (NFI). This first-of-its-kind barometer of the road freight market in India is based on a Rivigo rate exchange, which gives a live spot rate on over seven million lane and vehicle type combinations in the country. NFI offers an aggregated picture of both live rates and historical trends of spot price movements in the road freight industry. The index is represented in two main forms; in terms of actual freight rates condensed to INR per tonne-km and in terms of relative movement with respect to a base month. Gazal Kalra, Co-Founder, Rivigo, said, “In the existing logistics market structure, there are high inefficiencies due to information asymmetry, which leads to a great loss of value. NFI will enable unrestricted access and sharing of freight rate information. This will bring transparency in the market and propel the logistics sector towards efficiencies and growth.”

FarEye is all set to take on America’s logistics market. The company has announced the appointment of Larry Klimczyk as President, Americas. He will be responsible for the expansion and growth of FarEye customers and solutions throughout the region. This is one of the key steps in FarEye’s strategy to expand its business foothold in the region and build a strong local team. The organisation plans to hire more industry experts and open a local office in Chicago to be closer to its growing customer base. “We are very excited to welcome Larry, a veteran from the industry, to take the lead at FarEye Americas as it represents one of the fastest growing markets for us,” said Kushal Nahata, CEO & Co-founder, FarEye.

SA Consultants & Forwarders has launched Logycode, an e-commerce start-up to make the cost-effective match between exporters and importers on the one hand and air freight carriers on the other. The idea behind the initiative is to create an e-marketplace where customers can shop and ship easily and grow their business efficiently. The platform plans to change the traditional way the customer reaches out for his logistics needs. One of the key objectives is to create a platform that provides the airfreight purchasing industry with real-time instant rates for its buyers. Ashish Asaf, MD & CEO, SA Consultants & Forwarders, says, “The idea is to encourage our industry by simplifying businesses. The present situation is that people are investing a lot of time and money. Our goal is to digitise the industry and simplify processes. This is our value-add to our customers who are doing business with us. Through this platform, we are giving the tools in our customers hand so that they can work faster.”