Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), is all set to organise 12th edition of “Logistics 2023” – India’s Premier and focused show offering end to end solutions in the Logistics Industry. Scheduled from 16 – 18 February 2023, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Logistics 2023 will be an ideal platform for companies involved in Logistics, Supply Chain, Transportation, Shipping & Port, Material Handling, Warehousing & Storage Equipment, Consultancy and IT related business to showcase on their products & service, latest trends and Technologies to the industry and to strengthen their brand awareness to the stakeholders. Logistics 2023 would attract the end users from the Automotive, Manufacturing, Retail, FMCG, Pharmaceutical and other sectors.

Hyderabad-based real estate developer Laxmi Nivasam Developers has officially announced the launch of Laxmi Logistics Parks across India starting with Chittoor, Sadasivpet & Lucknow. This marks the brand’s foray into the warehousing and logistics business. Laxmi Logistics Park will be constructing 6.75 lakh sq. ft warehousing space across 30 acres land. Built with an investment of approx. Rs 150 crore and will create 1200 job opportunities for the people in and around these cities.Laxmi Logistics Park is expected to be the one stop solution for all top companies like Flipkart, Amazon, P&G etc., all over India. Moreover, the company has provided the best option for investors who are looking for passive income. It offers 8-12 per cent monthly rental yield as return on investment (RoI) on purchase of 40-sq-yard land in the logistics park at an investment of Rs 5.24 lakh. Speaking at the event, Rajendra Prasad Samundarpally, Chairman and Founder of Laxmi Nivasam Developers, said: “We are happy to launch Laxmi Logistics Park. This venture is going to change the face of Investments to the common man & is one step away from making One million Millionaires by 2035. It is going to be one of the biggest ever logistics spaces with a thought of making a common man as an owner in our company, we have started offering monthly rental incomes. Our properties are lavish and affordable for everyone. And we definitely thrive to spread aggressively across India”.

Air India SATS will set up an integrated multimodal cargo hub at the upcoming Jewar airport in Uttar Pradesh in partnership with Zurich Airport, said Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran, in his address at the UP Global Investors Summit. Air India has plans to connect every part of UP to the rest of India and potentially to important destinations of the world. I am happy to say that we are going to build an integrated multimodal air cargo through Air India SATS with our partner Zurich Airport in the new Jewar airport. Air India has a detailed plan to connect every part of UP to the rest of India and potentially to important destinations of the world,” he added.

Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways announced the opening of India’s largest Delhi to Mumbai Expressway with a length of 1,386 km to improve the connectivity betwee India’s National Capital Delhi and Fiancial Capital Mumbai. The minister said in a Linkedin post, “We are constructing the world’s fastest developed expressway which provides connectivity to 93 NMP Nodes, 8 MMLPs, greenfield airports (Jewar and Navi Mumbai) and port (JNPT). The 8-lane access controlled greenfield expressway would be built with alignment optimization to reduce to travel time to 12 hours from 24 hours. With a 180 km distance reduction (1424 km to 1242 km) it has scope for future expansion to the 12-lane epressway.”

Lufthansa Cargo has launched a new service that provides real-time tracking of the location and temperature of perishable products. The new service is launched in cooperation with Sensitech and Lobster Logistics Cloud and utilises sensors and GPS technology to monitor the location and ambient temperature of fresh produce during air and land transport. “This increases the safety of the goods, reduces the risk of losses and [therefore] makes fresh produce logistics more sustainable,” Lufthansa Cargo said. The airline’s head of airmail, courier & perishable handling, Oliver Blum, said: “We are all the more pleased that we have been able to develop another technical innovation in fresh produce logistics together with our partners Sensitech and Lobster Logistics Cloud. “This is a showcase example of how important it is to put our heads together to achieve climate and environmental goals.” The temperature loggers and Logistics Cloud’s tracking platform enable notifications in real-time, for example when specified parameters for temperature and humidity are reached. Andreas Tittel, strategic account manager at Sensitech, said that the real-time notifications allow customers to identify issues at an early stage and act accordingly.

Snowman Logistics opens its first-ever state-of-the-art A-Grade dry warehouse for the chemical industry in Shoolagiri, Tamil Nadu. This is the cold-chain logistics company’s first venture into the chemicals business and first step into storing and distributing Hazardous chemicals. Snowman Logistics will work with BDP UGL Global Logistics (I) Pvt. Ltd – one of the world leaders in automobile chemicals – and will soon extend to other chemicals & related customers. The Shoolagiri facility is situated in Horizon Industrial Parks Pvt. Ltd. and is 50,000 sq. ft. of warehouse space with a capacity of 5500 MTs with G+5 racking, equipped with all safety equipment and compliances. The warehouse is equipped with modern storage and handling equipment and provides an efficient and secure storage solution for goods. It is also well-wired with cutting-edge technology to provide a 24-hour monitoring system and fire protection for the safety of the stored goods. Sunil Nair, CEO of Snowman Logistics says, “Being a market leader in the cold chain space for over three decades, we have come out of our comfort zone this time. We are very excited to serve and grow in this new segment and are committed to continuing to provide our customers with the highest quality services in the Chemicals space, as well.” He further added, “We are looking forward to working with BDP UGL Global Logistics (I) Pvt. Ltd, which is one of the world leaders in automobile chemicals and together implementing global standards and practices and developing world-class capabilities for storing and distributing hazardous chemicals in the region and beyond.” Speaking on their association with Snowman Logistics, Pavithran M Kallada, Managing Director, BDP India, says, “With our expertise in global chemical …

Reacting on increased repo rate and how it will impact the logistics trade, C K Govil. Vice President, ACAAI shares, “An increase in the repo rate in India can have a significant impact on the logistics industry. This is because the logistics industry heavily relies on borrowing to fund its operations and investments in infrastructure. An increase in the repo rate means higher interest rates on loans, which can increase the cost of borrowing for logistics companies. This can lead to higher operating costs, lower profit margins, and decreased competitiveness for the industry. Moreover, higher interest rates can also affect consumer spending and reduce demand for goods, leading to a decrease in the volume of goods being transported. This can result in a slowdown in the demand for logistics services, putting pressure on companies to find ways to reduce costs and remain profitable. Overall, an increase in the repo rate can have a negative impact on the logistics industry in India, leading to higher costs and decreased demand for logistics services.”

Reacting to the increase in the Repo Rate by 25 basis points with immediate effect to 6.5 percent, FIEO President, Dr A Sakthivel said this increase is in line with the ongoing initiative and effort of the Reserve Bank of India to contain inflation and the flight of capital looking at such a volatile and challenging global scenario. Recently the US Fed also hiked its rate by 25 basis points and the Bank of England by 50 basis points. The FIEO President said that global foreign trade is passing through a difficult phase owing to rising inflation, reducing the purchasing power, and countries entering into recession and high volatility in currencies. In the given scenario, we have to ensure that further increase in export credit rates should not blunt our competitive edge as we are losing out to our competitors in countries with reduced rates of interest and deep depreciation of their currencies. Dr Sakthivel urged the Government to increase interest subvention under the Interest Equalization Scheme (IES) from 3% and 2% respectively to 5% (to all MSME manufacturers) and 3% (to all other eligible categories) as interest rates are at a much higher level than the pre-covid times besides extending of tenure of Pre-shipment Credit in Foreign Currency (PCFC) from 180 days to 365 days will further provide headroom for the exporting community. At the same time, FIEO Chief has advised the exporters to opt for foreign currency denominated credit which is available at LIBOR+150-200 basis points and provide a comfort, during the extreme volatility in dollar, without any hedging cost. FIEO Chief also requested RBI to extend “Export Refinance Facility” to banks. Under such a mechanism, banks may …

Raaja Kanwar, Chairman and Managing Director, Apollo Supply Chain and Apollo International Limited shared his views on Budget 2023, “The Union Budget 2023 lays out a credible roadmap towards the development of transport infrastructure and last-mile connectivity. We congratulate the budget for making Green Growth one of the top 7 priorities; focusing on ease of doing business. As, Apollo Supply chain, we look forward to resolving the inefficiencies in the country’s supply chain.”

Everts Air Cargo is expanding its fleet with the conversion of an MD-88SF into a freighter configuration through Aeronautical Engineers, Inc. (AEI). The aircraft will commence conversion in March 2023 with modification touch labor being performed by Dothan, Alabama-based, Commercial Jet, which is an authorised AEI Conversion Center. Everts will use the freighter to accommodate fleet expansion plans. The AEI MD-88SF is capable of carrying 12 88” x 108” Containers/Pallets. Everts Air Cargo is the sister company to Everts Air Alaska and serves customers residing in larger Alaskan cities, as well as, small villages in remote locations. The company’s primary business is transporting freight and mail, as well as the movement of oversized freight, hazardous materials and small packages. The company’s fleet consists of C-46 and DC-6 aircraft, which are well-suited to the many shorter, unimproved gravel or ice runways in Alaska, along with DC-9s, and MD-80s.