Kochi hosts the second regional workshop of NMP

New Delhi: A series of regional workshops are being organized to facilitate the wider adoption of the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) platform across all the States/UTs to sensitise the state officials about it. These workshops are designed for bringing more vigor and building synergy among the different stakeholders resulting in mutual learning among the States 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 9 States/UTs of the southern region, i.e., Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Lakshadweep and Puducherry, was organized on 10th & 11th March 2023 in Kochi, Kerala.

During the workshop, Ms. Sumita Dawra, Special Secretary, Logistics, DPIIT requested the States/UTs to interact with business associations and stakeholders on a regular basis to identify issues related to reducing logistics cost and bringing efficiency. She suggested that an inter-departmental services improvement group may be formed to address logistics related issues and action plans may be formulated for bringing down logistics cost duly identifying priority areas for taking up multimodal infrastructure related interventions. Mapping of freight flows in order to have a demand driven approach to logistics efficiency for the next 5-10 years, attracting private investments in logistics related infrastructure and involving start-ups for solutions to promoting logistics efficiency were also mentioned in her remark. She also stressed upon the use of technology and green initiatives during planning of the logistics ecosystem including both planning for infrastructure development for new India and developing an efficient logistics ecosystem.

NMP is a transformative approach that enables integrated planning and synchronised implementation for multimodal and last mile connectivity across the country. It was launched by the Prime Minister on 13th October, 2021 with a vision to break departmental silos in Government and institutionalize holistic planning for stakeholders across major infrastructure projects.

On the first day of the Regional Workshop in Kochi, a demonstration of best use cases in using the NMP was made by the central Ministries. Experience, best practices and vision of using the NMP/SMP platform was shared by the 9 participating States/ UTs.

On the second day of the Regional Workshop in Kochi, there were discussions on National Logistics Policy, state logistics policies, Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) and city logistics plan. For augmenting port connectivity and multimodality through PMGS, a presentation was made by the Cochin Port Authority followed by panel discussion with 4 major ports of Cochin, Kamarajar Vishakhapatnam and New Mangalore port. A site visit to Kochi was also organized to study Port Connectivity and Coastal projects.

State/UT Logistics Policy has been notified by 18 states. Development of Logistics Ease Across Different State (LEADS) 2023-24 report has also commenced with the objective of analyzing the logistics ecosysytem of various States/UTs as per a framework, and rank States/UTs on logistics ease. During the workshop, State and UTs also presented an overview of their Logistics Policy mentioning the following among other things:

Tamil Nadu presented a focus on reduction of cost of logistics for export-import as well as domestic trade in the State (expected to be reduced by 5 to 6%)

Karnataka presented its focus on improving the State’s performance in logistics.

Andhra Pradesh highlighted their objective to address infrastructure gaps in logistics & supply chain and to promote trade from the East Coast

Telangana underlined its objective of developing a robust logistics ecosystem through MMLPs, Dry Ports, Cold storages etc.

Andaman and Nicobar Islands presented its focus on reducing logistics cost by enhancing efficiency by enabling multimodal connectivity

A panel discussion on port connectivity and multimodality was held towards the end of the workshop. The discussion covered port led industrialization, development of a large number of ports in Andhra Pradesh and focus on Telangana as a major hinterland; for this both states need to work together for integrated development and coastal shipping as a major focus for Indian ports.

In continuation with the PM GatiShakti ‘whole of government’ approach and to complement the PM GatiShkati NMP, the National Logistics Policy (NLP) was launched to address the components of improving efficiency in services and human resource through streamlining processes, regulatory framework, skill development, mainstreaming logistics in higher education and adoption of suitable technologies.

The National Logistics Policy lays down an overarching interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral and multi-jurisdictional framework for the logistics sector and provides a comprehensive policy framework for all sub-sectors in the logistics ecosystem that are critical for efficient logistics.

The vision of the National Logistics Policy is to develop a technologically enabled, integrated, cost-efficient, resilient, sustainable and trusted logistics ecosystem in the country for accelerated and inclusive growth. Accordingly, broad targets for achieving the vision of NLP are to: (i) Reduce cost of logistics in India to be comparable to global benchmarks by 2030.; (ii) improve the Logistics Performance Index ranking – endeavour is to be among top 25 countries by 2030, and (iii) create data driven decision support mechanism for an efficient logistics ecosystem.