Tag Archives: Government of India

The fifth edition of India Cargo Awards celebrated the accomplishments of the cargo industry, at Hotel Clarks Shiraz, Agra, on December 5, 2018. Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Government of India, congratulated the winners through a video message as he could not make it to the event. He said, “I am glad India Cargo Awards is being hosted today. I wish success to all winners. I wanted to personally come and present the award to you but, unfortunately, I am tied up elsewhere. Please consider the awards to be personally handed over by me as recognition of your good work for the industry. The awards are a reminder of what is required to be done to make India the most efficient country for cargo movement in the world.” He also spoke of a comprehensive strategy that is being devised to make movement of cargo hassle-free, cost-effective, and efficient. “We are coming out with an air cargo policy which will be announced in the month of January next year. We are working on a comprehensive strategy to create logistics hubs and I have already spoken to several countries including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and others in the neighbourhood, as well as far-off countries like Russia. All of this is going to bring in huge change in the way we do logistics in India,” he said. The award ceremony held in Agra was also graced by Dinesh Kumar, Deputy Director, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, who was the Guest of Honour for the glorious evening. It also saw the presence of Manvinder Sandhu, runner up, Gladrags Mrs. India and the leaders of the cargo industry. …

Essar Vizag Terminal has dedicated to the nation its newly-commissioned 24 MTPA Vizag iron ore handling complex, to be inaugurated by Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, Government of India. With an investment of Rs 830 crore, the expansion strengthens the nation’s vision of Sagarmala and coastal cargo movement. “The Vizag iron ore handling complex is a facility that is truly a national asset. We are committed to realising the government’s vision of port-led development,” says Prashant Ruia, Director, Essar. The complex will have the fastest vessel turnaround time for iron ore among Indian ports. It can now berth Super Capesize vessels up to 200,000 DWT, with a depth of 20 metres, on the outer harbour of Vizag Port. Special emphasis was given to make the iron ore handling complex environment-friendly. Focus on global best practices in mechanisation and sustainable environment protection has significantly reduced dust emission and spillage, thus improving the carbon footprint and working conditions of the port. EVTL has also strengthened the entire 9.5-km conveyor network and upgraded to PLC automation.

The Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) highly commends the Government of India for its firmness to implement the GST. It has positively impacted the manufacturing, ex-im trade and logistics industry. However, there are some areas of concern that require to be addressed. “After completion of one year of GST we can say that it has matured to a great extent in terms of filing of returns. However, for the services sector, export services have not been defined adequately. Issues pertaining to taxes on goods are more or less resolved and are being settled in the regular GST Council meetings. Our sincere request to the Council is to redefine the export services so that there is no scope of ambiguity and hassles to service providers,” says S Ramakrishna, Vice Chairman, FFFAI. He also maintains that the concept of GSTR-I, 2 and 3 should have been continued so that auto reconciliation through the system could have happened. Ramakrishna pushes for doing away with human intervention, which is, in fact, the intention and vision of the present government at the Centre. It is also pertinent to mention that the technology support from GSTN, which is the backbone to successfully implement and carry out the tax revolution in India, has to be well-structured and streamlined. “As the Finance Secretary of India, Hasmukh Adhia assured in his very recent statement, we are looking forward to the next GST Council meeting for some pragmatic decision on services sector, GSTN and other issues,” Ramakrishna concludes.

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.

The second edition of the India Cargo Awards – North & East, celebrated the accomplishments of the cargo industry of North & East India at Hyatt Regency, Gurgaon on October 13. Dr Renu Singh Parmar, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India, was the Chief Guest and Vineet Pandey, Chief General Manager Business Development and Marketing Directorate, Department of Post, Ministry of Communication, Government of India, was the Guest of Honour at the event. The ceremony was attended by Anika Agrawal, Gladrags Mrs Exotic Beauty and leaders of the cargo industry. India Cargo Awards honoured the real runners of the industry. The 47 winners were chosen after a fair and unbiased selection process which includes an online voting platform. SL Sharma, Chairman & Managing Director, Skyways Group and Immediate Past President, Air Cargo Agents Association of India (ACAAI) was awarded with the Gallery of Legends. He started his career in 1968 before starting his own venture in 1983. Today, Skyways Group ranks in the top five air freight companies of the country. With his rich experience in the industry, he held several positions in many trade associations and chambers, like ACAAI, and Delhi Customs Clearing Agents Association, to name a few. The coveted ‘DDP Game Changer’ award went to Ramesh Mamidala, CEO, Celebi Delhi Cargo Terminal Management India. Mamidala has been associated with the global air cargo and logistics industry for more than 20 years. He has rich experience in the aviation industry and has also successfully managed the transition of a new airport for Qatar Cargo while being the Head of Qatar’s Cargo Services in Doha. Rubal Jain, Managing Director, Safexpress was awarded the esteemed DDP Trail Blazer award. His innovative approach led him to enter …