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The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) has been on a workshop spree, since February 2023, for improving India’s logistics ecosystem on the back of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. The last of these workshops, that started with in Goa, and moved across the country, was held in the Guwahati, Assam on 25th March. The focus of the fourth and last regional workshop was the National Logistics Policy. It was attended by more than 140 officials and industry players.
Eight States from the North-East region participated in the workshop, and Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura among other states, gave presentations on their respective logistics policy during the workshop. During their respective presentations, experiences, best practices and adoption at state level was shared by the participating states – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. The demonstration of best use cases of PM GatiShakti NMP was also made by the Central Ministries.
Chaired by the Special Secretary (Logistics), DPIIT – Sumita Dawra – the workshop focused on ways to strengthen the north-east corridor with adequate multimodal connectivity to economic centres and gateway ports.
Assam Logistics and Warehousing Policy, 2022 aims at remodelling the state into regional logistics hub via developing state-of-the-art infrastructure by incentivizing private investments, encouraging sustainability and climate resilience in the region, besides wider inclusive participation in economic activities, she said.
Also Read: Assam Cabinet approves policy to make the state a logistics hub
Manipur Integrated Logistics Policy, 2022 showcased its plan to enhance Ease of Doing Business by trade facilitation through active stakeholder involvement, while the Mizoram presentation laid down a road map, incorporating local connectivity of various economic zones, formation of regulatory framework, development of integrated logistics information system among other matters.
Mizoram State Logistics Policy, 2022 lays down the logistics development road map in three phases, incorporating, local connectivity of various economic zones and formation of Regulatory framework, development of integrated logistics information system, and connection to global logistics network in border points respectively.
The Tripura State Logistics Policy stressed on creation of aggregation hubs as a centre for storage of perishable and non-perishable commodities, development of truck terminals and driver resting facilities, focusing on the thrust sectors like tea, rubber, agro and allied products, healthcare and education, skill development.
In the spirit of cooperative federalism, these workshops are facilitating wider adoption of the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan and National Logistics Policy across States/UTs. These workshops bring more vigor and build synergy among different stakeholders resulting in mutual learning among States/UTs and Central Ministries/Departments.
The First Regional Workshop for Central and Western Zone was organized on 20th February 2023 in Goa. The second regional workshop with Nine States/UTs of Southern region was organized on 10th & 11th March 2023 in Kochi. The Third Regional workshop with eight States/UTs of Northern region was held in Srinagar on 17th and 18th March 2023. The fourth regional workshop was held in Guwahati on 24-25th March. With this more than 30 States/UTs have been covered in interactive workshops. The fifth regional workshop is planned in early April 2023.
Using PM GatiShakti NMP, 11 terminals are being developed under Inland Waterway Authority of India, major one being Dhubri, Jogighoba, Pandu and Sadiya. These will enable transportation of cargo to Bangladesh and NE states through waterways. This will bring down logistics cost and enable modal shift in freight movement from roads to waterways.
Case studies on (i) multimodal connectivity to Multimodal Logistics Park at Jogighopa (Assam) and (ii) construction of four-lane bridge over River Brahmaputra between Dhubri (Assam) and Phulbari (Meghalaya) that will reduce travel time and make logistics more efficient, were discussed as well.
Dawra concluded the workshop by making suggestions on communication between stakeholders with inter-departmental meetings focused on required interventions for logistics; Human resources development, skilling & capacity building in logistics; Development of Logistics Parks integrated with facilitating development of warehouses, integrated check posts, land custom stations, temperature controlled facilities to be in the policy framework; Cluster-based area approach to developing economic centres in the North East; public private partnership in infra creation; and improving transportation resilience.
