‘India has potential to become global cargo hub’

India is in a position to become the global cargo hub in the coming years, with the kind of developments happening on the infrastructural and technological front and with government’s initiatives like Gati Shakti, National Logistics Policy, Manufacturing in India, the growth is certain, there are tremendous opportunities, said,” Piyush Srivastava – Senior Economic Advisor (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), while addressing ACFI Annual Conclave held on Wednesday in New Delhi. The theme of the event Cargo Udaan – Empowering and connecting Indian skies is very relevant he added stating, it reminds of long-haul flights with some turbulences like we have high Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices. “To bring down high ATF prices, we have to reduce VAT, he added. We have succeeded in 17 states, we have now 31 states on our side now, where we are working on reducing ATF like Delhi. It’s work in progress.” “I feel country of our size, dimension should have transshipment hubs. For creating a hub government can only provide a facilitating environment but the hub will be created on global economic scenario and how the industry sees the growth. Now Air India placed huge order of widebody aircraft, which will boost the creation of aviation hubs in the country. We are poised to achieve this target in the coming years.”