A meeting to showcase ongoing and upcoming initiatives and reforms to improve India’s Logistics Efficiency to the World Bank Team was held under the chairpersonship of the Special Secretary (Logistics), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Smt Sumita Dawra in New Delhi yesterday. The nodal officers of the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) dedicated team including Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI), M/o Civil Aviation, M/o Railways, M/o Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), M/o Civil Aviation (MOCA), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (NICDC) and members from World Bank participated in the meeting.

Special Secretary (Logistics) DPIIT highlighted that the targeted action plan has been shared by various Ministries/ Departments and big data is being generated to improve the logistics efficiency of the country. These efforts will improve India’s ranking in the World Bank LPI.

During the meeting, DPIIT showcased the best practices adopted by Indian Ministries/ Departments that are helping improve India’s Logistics efficiency. Some of the reforms/ initiatives undertaken are summarised below.

LPAI has implemented a Land Port Management System (LPMS) to digitise operations and facilitate a secure electronic flow of information between all stakeholders at the Integrated check posts (ICPs) and has also implemented smart gate for automated entry and exit (Land Port Petrapole). They have been successful in meeting NTFAP target of reducing export release time from 101 hours to 22 hours while average import release time for Land Ports is 17 hours.

100% electrification of railway tracks is being planned by MoR. The speed of track construction has increased by 3.6 times between FY 2014 and FY 2023, locomotive and wagon holding is expected to increase by 1.6 times and 1.8 times respectively from FY2023 to FY 20230.  CAPEX has been increased to USD 31.2 Billion in 2024 to improve the speed and volume of freight transport in the country, and the implementation of Eastern and Western dedicated freight corridors is offering an average speed of 50-60 km, which is almost thrice that of regular railway tracks.

MoPSW has launched NLP Marine, a National maritime single window platform encompassing complete end-to-end logistics solutions to help exporters, importers, and service providers exchange documents seamlessly and transact business.

CBIC’s ICEGATE (Customs Automated Portal) for various APIs such as Bill of Entry, Shipping Bill, etc. is integrated with ULIP. In addition, they have digitized the application filing, processing, and digitally signed delivery of AEO certification for AEO T1 applications by way of launching AEO portal.

MoRTH has planned 35 multi-modal logistics parks (MMLPs), 108 port connectivity projects and 608 way side amenities sites. FASTag, an electronic toll collection system that employs Radio Frequency Identification technology for making toll payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it or directly toll owner has also been launched.

e-Air Way Bill (e-AWB) and  e-Cargo Security Declaration are Digital Measures taken by MoCA. Implementation of e-Gatepass is due in September 2024.

Senior Transport Economist, World Bank, Mr. Jean-François Arvis applauded the decisive efforts India is making in promoting digital interventions in the logistics sector. He further presented about the change in LPI calculation approach that is being considered by the World Bank.  In 2023, new KPIs that would measure the actual speed of trade around the world were introduced. He added that the new KPIs are derived from large global tracking datasets (Big Data) covering shipping containers, air cargo, and parcels. Some of the big data sources include Container tracking data, Global postal data: International express and parcels managed by postal services, Airway bill data by IATA, Ship tracking data, Import dwell time, Export dwell time, Airport dwell time and Postal Delivery time.

Special Secretary (Logistics), DPIIT added that these initiatives with a targeted intervention will improve logistics efficiency in the country. Further DPIIT and Inter-Ministerial Dedicated Team would continue to work with the World Bank to understand the LPI evolving methodology.

Logistics efficiency improvements showcased to World Bank, leveraging digital reforms and big-data LPI metrics to track trade speed. DPIIT convened ministries and agencies to present coordinated digital and infrastructure reforms to improve logistics efficiency and India's World Bank LPI standing, highlighting Land Port Management System and smart gates, railway electrification and dedicated freight corridors, a National Maritime Single Window, customs automation via ICEGATE and an AEO portal, FASTag, e-Air Way Bill and e-Cargo measures, plus planned multi-modal logistics parks and port connectivity. The World Bank described an evolving LPI using KPIs from large tracking datasets, prompting DPIIT to continue inter-ministerial, data-driven interventions to align reforms with Big Data-based LPI metrics.