India has jumped six places and ranked 38 out of 139 countries in the 7th edition of World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index 2023, Ministry of Commerce and Industry said on Wednesday. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry said the country has seen remarkable improvement on 4 out of 6 LPI indicators.
The ministry said, "The World Bank has acknowledged India’s efforts towards increasing logistics efficiency. On 4 out of 6 LPI indicators India has seen remarkable improvement on the back of various initiatives being implemented over the past few years. This is a strong indicator of India’s global positioning, with this development being powered by our government’s laser focus on reforms for improving logistics infrastructure."
The ministry also listed a number of initiatives taken by the Narendra Modi-led government to improve pan-India logistics.
In October 2021, the Government of India launched the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (PMGS-NMP) towards a coordinated approach, leveraging technology, for infrastructure planning and development. PMGS envisages breaking silos among different departments/ministries in states/UTs by combining all relevant data on a National Master Plan and State Master Plans (portals) respectively, the ministry said.
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In September 2022, the Prime Minister launched the National Logistics Policy (NLP) that acts as a guiding document for states/UTs seeking to formulate logistics policy. The ministry said that NLP lays emphasis on the shift towards more energy-efficient modes of transportation and greener fuels to reduce the carbon footprint. The policy also focuses on adopting the usage of multimodal transportation and complementing it by building multimodal logistics parks.
At a sub-national level, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has been conducting LEADS (Logistics Ease Across Different States) study since 2018 which helps to identify and resolve logistics inefficiencies and improve trade facilitation across supply chains.
On a national level, India has notified Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for the boost to creating global champions in manufacturing, PM Mitra Textile Parks, Bulk Drug Parks, other areas of manufacturing, and 43 Towns of Export Excellence meticulously focusing on specific sectors for exports and provision of related infrastructure.
"Resolving the logistics gaps/bottlenecks will help decrease the logistics cost and will lead to increment in logistics efficiency which will contribute to ongoing reforms aimed at India becoming a global manufacturing/production hub in the coming years," the ministry added.