Category Archives: Supply Chain

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.

Samir H. Mankad, CEO & Executive Director, GSEC, was awarded the esteemed DDP Trailblazer. He has been serving the company right from the time of its privatisation in 2004. GSEC is the custodian of cargo in Ahmedabad. Under his leadership, GSEC operates airports at Indore and Visakhapatnam as an O&M operator, while also looking after the domestic cargo terminals at Indore and Raipur. Mankad is a Mechanical Engineer and holds an MBA and has more than 37 years of experience in project management, MIS, systems and logistics. He has served in leading organisations like Bajaj Group, Alembic, Torrent and Adani Group. Mankad also devotes his time in teaching the management subjects in  institutions such as AMA, Nirma University, and more.

The third edition of the India Cargo Awards – West & South celebrated the accomplishments of the extraordinaire leaders of cargo industry from the West & South regions of India at Crowne Plaza Ahmedabad City Centre on October 14, 2017.  Gautambhai Navalchand Shah, Mayor, Amdavad Municipal Corporation, was the Chief Guest for the glorious evening. The ceremony saw the august presence of Dr. Marisha Kaul, Gladrags Mrs India North 2017, along with the leaders of the cargo industry. India Cargo Awards honoured the real runners of the industry. The 32 winners were chosen after a fair and unbiased selection process which includes an online voting platform.

“In this Union Budget, an infrastructure push along with investment and consumption-led growth presented as the key priority areas for the government. This is quite expected that the government will do required developments for infrastructure and logistics sectors. PPP & ‘Make in India’ is always counted first on the fingertips of the government. As expected this Union Budget indicates that public investment does help in crowding in private investment. Sectors such as automobiles, cement, steel, paper, aluminium and fertilisers, which had the lowest capacity utilisation and were among the sectors that have been the ones hardest hit by demonetisation, are on a special focus by the government,” says “Announcements like total allocation of Rs 39,61,354 crore on infrastructure development, development of selected airports in Tier 2 & 3 cities on PPP mode, etc., will help the logistics industry to grow further. The government has shown its support investment directly by spending more on infrastructure, particularly roads and affordable housing. This will also help raise demand for core sectors such as steel and cement. Construction of roads and low-cost housing is highly labour intensive in India, which will also help generate employment in the economy,” he adds.

Samir J Shah, Chairman, FFFAI believes, “The recent bold steps from the government pertaining to fiscal discipline, restructuring of tax regime, capacity building through setting up of appropriate infrastructure and connectivity have further been strengthened by the Budge 2017-18 announcements. For instance, budgetary allocation of Rs 2,41,387 crore for multimodal transportation sector, increase of allocation for highways from Rs 57,976 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 64,900 crore for 2017-18, identifying 2,000 kms of coastal connectivity roads for construction and development, more emphasis on agro- based produces through NABARD and appropriate logistics facilities for them, emphasis on MSME sector, port connectivity, Greenfield ports, airports in Tier-II & Tier-III cities through PPP mode, logistics parks, etc would have long-term and significant effects on India’s manufacturing and merchandise trade.” “Remarkably, the finance minister has announced the government’s decision to set up 1500 Multi Skill Training Institutes across the country. For these, Rs 1,700 crore has been allotted for FY 2017-18. This highlights the government’s firm commitments towards adding value to capacity building in a larger perspective. FFFAI, in its pre-Budget memorandum had urged the Finance Ministry to address the micro issues related customs clearance. We are optimistic that the finance minister’s commitments on ease of doing business would resolve those in the days to come,” he states.

Abhishek Chakraborty, Executive Director, DTDC Express, expects, “This budget will be crucial in terms of understanding and getting clarity on the implementation of the GST especially over the first two quarters in FY17-18. Strengthening of all IT related infrastructure and projects will be a key to extract the best out of the entire demonetisation drive. It will be great to have the government take concrete measures to ensure a secure IT infrastructure for rapid technology adoption to empower citizens to go digital. Lastly, measures that will increase operational efficiencies such as infrastructure development and boost trade is what we are hopeful for.’’

Prakash Tulsiani, Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer, Allcargo Logistics, wishes, “While there is a wish list of reforms that the sector deserves, a few points need to be considered on priority. At the outset, GST implementation is key for ease in movement of goods in the domestic market, the benefits of which are well discussed in the recent past. Secondly, focus on provisioning for infrastructure development, including better transportation system that will improve business efficiencies, thereby benefiting the sector immensely. The government should also look at fast tracking approvals for new infrastructure projects to boost foreign investors’ confidence.” “The government should consider giving tax benefits for capital intensive infrastructure. The development of logistics parks across the country for speedy delivery is also the need of the hour. Logistics parks will help provide services and facilities to reduce costs, boost efficiency and improve the flow of both raw material procurement and finished goods. The sector is also in need of skilled labour. The government should look at allocating funds for education and skill development in this area as this will be of great help to all logistics players,” he continues. “With the current demonetisation move, the industry and the common man at large have high expectations of lowering tax rates and reviving positive sentiments in the economy. Besides, it would be interesting to see what the budget has in store to boost the manufacturing sector and pump up the rural economy. Reforms in this direction are a ready welcome for the logistics industry,” stresses Tulsiani.

Chander Agarwal, Managing Director, TCIEXPRESS, shares, “Timely implementation of GST would result in absorption of various taxes involved in transportation of goods and services and will increase efficiency in our operations. Last year, Rs 2.31 lakh crore was announced to be invested in infrastructure, which shows the importance of upgrading infrastructure. Hence, will look forward to some emphasis on improving the infrastructure this year as well as it is a boon not only for express delivery players but many industries. Thirdly, with the recent implementation of demonetisation, the industry is moving towards a digital and cashless mode of transaction. Hence, more incentives for every cashless transaction are expected. This will motivate increased adoption towards technology. Lastly, it will be interesting to look forward to more schemes under Make in India, Skill India, and Digital India initiatives.”