In a bid to boost competitiveness of states with respect to logistics, the government is planning on extending the ambit of perception-based index of mobility of goods and efficiency of logistics chain that will have a resultant impact on competitiveness of states.
The commerce department is in talks of adding new indicators such as rail and road connectivity, railway track and highway length, average speeds, performance of toll roads, and number and capacity of warehouse facilities to its Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) index, which is currently based on parameters such as infrastructure, services, safety of cargo, timeliness, track and trace.
The first two editions of the LEADS index had ranked Gujarat number one. The state facilitation and coordination, and efficiency of regulatory processes, are also considered in the index at present.
“There is no point looking at states’ performance in isolation. The purpose of the ranking is to increase competition and improve performance. We are considering additional parameters,” said an official, who did not wish to be identified.
Average lead of cargo in rail, road connectivity and capacity as measured by the length of state highways, district and rural roads and warehousing capacity of FCI, Central Warehousing Corporation and State Warehousing Corporation are the proposed new criteria.
Source: ET
