Category Archives: Rail/Road

The Indo-Iran Joint Business Seminar, focussing on Chabahar Port opportunities in Free Zone and Transit Corridors, was held in the capital recently to update all the stakeholders about developments happening at Chabahar port and investment opportunities available in transport and logistics sector. Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India spoke about the initiatives taken by the Government of India to enhance bilateral cooperation in the maritime sector. Dr. Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi, Minister of Roads and Urban Development, Islamic Republic of Iran talks about crossing corridors from Iran which connects India to the international markets, i.e. Nort-South which connects India to Russia, Caucasus & CIS, South-West which connects India to Europe and India-Iran-Afghanistan which is connecting India to Afghanistan from Chabahar (road) or from Bandar Abbas (railroad).

The Uttar Pradesh government is drafting its own logistics policy, as higher industrial activity, economic growth and the government’s recent policy decisions are triggering unprecedented growth in the sector. “With both the Eastern and the Western freight corridors and several industrial corridors passing through Uttar Pradesh, we are at a good position to take advantage of this logistics revolution which we expect to see in the next two years,” Rajiv Kumar, Chief Secretary, UP State Government. The policy will entail the establishment of at least five industrial parks across the state; the smallest with an investment of Rs 200 crore. The policy will also include various incentives for logistics players if they invest in this sector in the state.

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.

Piyush Goyal has replaced Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu as the Minister of Railways. Goyal was the MoS (I/C) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines in the Government of India. He will reportedly get to manage his power portfolio as well. He is currently a Member of Rajya Sabha and was earlier the National Treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He headed the BJP’s Information Communication Campaign Committee and oversaw the publicity and advertising campaign of the party including the social media outreach for the Indian General Elections 2014. He is an all-India second rank holder Chartered Accountant and second rank holder in Law in Mumbai University. He was a well-known investment banker and he has advised top corporates on management strategy and growth. He earlier served on the Board of India’s largest commercial bank, the State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda.

Kashipur Infrastructure & Freight Terminals (KIFTPL), a Joint Venture between Apollo LogiSolutions Limited (ALS) and Indian Glycols Limited (IGL), has launched first EXIM (Export-Import) train from Inland Container Depot (ICD) Kashipur. Ajay Tamta, Minister of State for Textiles, Government of India flagged off the train covering connecting Kashipur with Mundra port. The EXIM train will be servicing all gateway port/ports like Mundra and Pipavav. The state-of-the-art private freight terminal in Kashipur, Uttarakhand, is spread over 41 acres of land, to cater the logistics requirements of region. Nearly 84 rakes of domestic transportations equivalent to 15000 TEUs of throughput has already taken place from this terminal since its operation. Raaja Kanwar, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Apollo International said, “This is a significant step towards building integrated logistics capabilities to provide better facilities to our hinterland customers in the near future.”

DB Schenker has announced the launch of its LANDbridge product in the Indian subcontinent. The international road service from the company’s road portfolio in Asia Pacific has grown with the recent Bangalore-Dhaka cross-border shipments piloted with Linde Gas India. This 2,000 km road routing involved passage through three different Indian states and clearance procedures at the Petrapole-Benapole border to enter the capital city of Dhaka. The coordination and establishment of the India-Bangladesh route opens the door to more possibilities in the region, enabling DB Schenker to cater to more industries and customers. Commenting on the development, Gregory Loh, Director, LANDbridge product, said, “The company’s focus on cross-border road solutions in Asia is not confined to Southeast Asia or China. DB Schenker is committed to push the envelope further afield and deliver solutions to more companies moving cargo within mainland Asia.”

JSC RZD Logistics and Federation of Freight Forwarders’ Associations in India (FFFAI) have signed an agreement on strategic partnership aimed to coordinate efforts in development of the North-South ITC (International Transport Corridor). JSC RZD Logistics and FFFAI agreed to work together to expand the number of contacts with Russian and Indian freighters in order to attract the cargos to the North-South ITC. They are planning to develop Russian-Indian logistics cooperation as well. The signing of the agreement took place during the International Rail Business Forum ‘1520 Strategic Partnership: The Caspian Region’.

PC Sharma, CEO and whole time director, TCIEXPRESS, notes, “The budget allocation of Rs 39,61,354 crore on infrastructure development and of selected airports in Tier 2 & 3 cities will help us penetrate in strategic and remote locations, enhancing our services in those regions as well. The focus on infrastructure development in the budget will contribute towards the exponential growth of logistics industry, as it will help in robust operations and efficient deliveries, particularly for the express delivery sector. We are also optimistic about the timely implementation of GST, which was also mentioned in the budget.”

Expressing hope, Sarini Sachdeva, CEO, Aardour Worldwide Logistics says, “The announcement of Rs 39,61,354 crore on infrastructure development will help the logistics industry to grow much faster. Today, infrastructure forms the major reason that logistics industry is lagging behind.” “Moreover, for any country, air connectivity to undeserved and unserved regions could provide impetus to economic development and growth of such regions, and contribute to a more uniform and equitable growth in economic activity across the country. Per capita flights in India is about 0.08 compared with around 2.5 and three in the US and the UK, respectively. India has about 450 airports and airstrips but only 75 have scheduled operations, as per the recently unveiled national civil aviation policy,” she informs. “Around 66.5 per cent of India’s total air traffic comes from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad airports. These six cities would require new airports by 2025-26 and in some cases, much earlier. Currently, cargo from smaller airports fly to big cities. Once the smaller airports became viable the industries in Tier 2 and Tier 3 will also flourish,” Sachdeva adds.

Ravinder Katyal, Director Air Freight & Co-Load – ISC, DSV Air & Sea, says, “This Union Budget will allow businesses to run through, closer by airports and thereby decentralise the process and save the logistics cost. However, we really need to review that will the investment of Rs 39,61,354 crore on infrastructure development help improve the commercial/cargo facilities or not and the development of Tier II Airports on PPP mode will be for cargo also or only for passenger terminals. (If the same happens for cargo too, this will help better control or lower logistic cost and automatically time will be saved as the facilities will be close to their manufacturing hubs).”