Category Archives: Supply Chain

The cargo industry in India will now benefit from a new policy, informed Suresh Prabhu, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation of India, Government of India. Addressing the Supply Chain Summit in Delhi, Prabhu said, “The country will soon have a policy on cargo that is being finalised by the new logistics department. For the first time, a logistics division has been created in the country. All the modes in the segment were reaping good results, but, there were no single one-point of contact. The policy is more of a concrete plan, to create new logistics hubs in India. The document is in the final stages of preparation.” The minister has asked the industry stakeholders to give their inputs, which could be incorporated in the policy. He said that the new policy will have a new industrial policy, one for agriculture exports and developing parameters for the country’s districts on ease of doing business.

Agility has signed an agreement with Cold Box Express to offer innovative shipping solutions for temperature-sensitive cargo. Cold Box offers an active temperature-control pallet shipper, designed for mixed-load ground transportation. The shipper is a pallet-sized interior compartment with precise temperature control and range, extended hold times, and 24×7 near-real-time tracking and monitoring. Satish Lakkaraju, Chief Commercial Officer, Agility India, said, “We believe in offering unique, cost-effective solutions that can help customers achieve a more secure cold chain. In the Indian market, where temperatures rise to over 45°C, moving temperature-sensitive cargo can be a challenge. Cold Box’s solution is easy to handle, and perfectly suited to our customer needs.” Under the terms of the partnership, Agility will test one Cold Box as part of a pilot to move cargo for pharmaceutical customers in India. The device will be used for LCL reefer shipments, as well as to move pharmaceutical products to difficult-to-reach locations, areas prone to power cuts, and for last-mile delivery.

Forklift manufacturer and material handling solutions provider Combilift has officially opened its new global headquarters and manufacturing facility in Monaghan, Ireland. The new 46,500 sq. m purpose–built factory is set on a 100-acre site with room for future expansion when required. The facility will allow Combilift to realise its ambitious growth plans. Martin McVicar, Managing Director, Combilift, said: “We have employed an additional 230 people since we announced our plans for this factory in 2015 and the combination of this state-of-the-art production plant and the growing skilled workforce will allow us to double production within the next five years.” Speaking about how India has evolved for the group, McVicar adds, “There is massive growth in cold stores in India and here we see opportunity for us. Lot of investment is going on in the manufacturing sector. And, as the manufacturing grows, opportunity seems large for us.”

Rahat Sachdeva, Vice President, Rahat Continental was awarded the esteemed ‘Face of the Future’ award. Sachdeva has done his Bachelors in Business Administration from Oxford Brookes University. He started his career with SDV (now known as Bollore Logistics) at their Heathrow office managing their Aerospace Imports division and then moved back to India in 2006 to join his family business. Sachdeva has taken his family business to new heights, be it bringing innovation in the business or managing and aligning the branches, etc. In 2011 they started their international office in London followed by another one in New York in 2014.  Rahat Continental, is a 140-crore company with the vision to be world’s best freight forwarding company by 2025.

Akash Bansal, Head – Logistics, OM Logistics was awarded the prestigious ‘DDP Game Changer’ award. With 16 years of diversified experience in managing logistics and supply chain across the various industry verticals, Bansal is associated with OM Logistics since 2001 heading Marketing & Sales on pan India basis. He has exhibited leadership in multiple roles and has proven to be a leader with an entrepreneurial business approach, and a track record of growing business results consistently for over many years.  

Ramesh Agarwal, Founder, Mentor, Director and Managing Worker, Agarwal Packers & Movers, joins the esteemed ‘DDP Trailblazer’ award. Agarwal’s journey is one of modern India’s great success stories. He has played a pioneering role not only in shaping Agarwal Movers Group to a point where it is today but also spearheaded national cause in key area of economic development- transport and logistics. Recently, Agarwal Movers Group was awarded for Operational Excellence & Environment Conservation by the CEAT IRTA-2011.

Cyrus Nariman Katgara, Partner, Jeena & Co was honoured with the ‘Gallery of Legends’ award. Katgara heads the more than 100-year old family business of Global Logistics – International Freight Forwarding both in India and abroad. With his rich experience, he has held several positions in many associations. He had been appointed Ambassador to the Port of Halifax; he has arranged top level ministerial delegation and was a liaison between Canadian Embassy and business associations such as CII, FIEO, etc.

The third edition of the India Cargo Awards – North & East celebrated the accomplishments of the cargo industry of North & East India at The Lalit, New Delhi on December 20, 2017. Salman Khurshid, former Cabinet Minister for External Affairs, former Cabinet Minister for Law and Justice and Minority Affairs, Government of India, was the Chief Guest for the distinguished evening. The ceremony saw the august presence of the leaders and runners of the cargo industry. The 39 winners were chosen after a fair and unbiased selection process which includes an online voting platform.

Strengthening its GoGreen mission, Blue Dart Express has piloted electric vehicles in Gurugram and will be subsequently inducted across Blue Dart country. This is another step towards operating its last mile e-tail delivery service with clean pick-up and delivery solutions. The launch was inaugurated by Sukhwinder Singh, Regional Head – North, Blue Dart. Anil Khanna, Managing Director, Blue Dart says, “With the introduction of electric vehicles to our fleet, we aim to reduce our carbon footprint and move one step closer towards our GoGreen mission.

Vaibhav Vohra, Managing Director, Continental Carriers, was awarded with the prestigious ‘Face of the Future’ award. After completing his graduation in Entrepreneurship and Finance from Babson College, Boston, USA, Vohra joined his family business and took a tough task of transitioning the first generation business culture to the third generation. His innovative thought process has brought about progressive changes within the organisation in a short span of time. He also initiated and successfully completed restructuring HRD and ERP implementation. Vohra’s positive initiatives have helped secure and align the future path that now enables his company to compete efficiently in the changed economic environment. His maturity and clarity of vision to provide strategic guidance would definitely help the industry in the future.