Major thrust to multimodal logistics in Budget 2022-23

In this year’s Union Budget the multimodal logistics sector has received a major push as the government aims at a significant reduction in the logistics cost in the upcoming three years. Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the contracts for implementing Multimodal Logistics Parks at four different locations via the public-private partnership (PPP) mode are going to be awarded in 2022-23. One hundred PM Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals dedicated towards multimodal logistics facilities to be developed in the span of the next three years. The data exchange in all mode operators to be brought on ‘Unified Logistics Interface Platform’. The platform is designed for the ‘Application Programming Interface’. This will result in providing efficiency in the movement of goods via different modes, reduction of logistics cost and time, assistance in inventory management, and elimination of tedious documentation. The country’s logistics cost of 14% of the gross domestic product (GDP) is very high in comparison with 8 to 10% of the developed nations. The government is planning to reduce the logistics cost by 4%, which is to 10% of the GDP in the upcoming three years. The Economic Survey of 2017-18 stated that a 10% reduction in indirect logistics cost might result in export growth of 5 to 8%. The government’s steps on increasing logistics efficiency and the push on multimodal projects will help in reducing the logistics cost. The multimodal sector has been neglected by the government for a long time. The multimodal sector comprises the movement of goods from one point to another via several modes of transport by one transport operator. Image Source Also read: Scindia holds meeting on kickstarting multi-modal logistics hub