Govt likely to come out with logistics cost estimate by Sept: DPIIT Official

The government is working on a framework to assess the logistics cost in the country and is expected to get a realistic estimate by September, a senior DPIIT official said on Friday.

At present, the government is going by certain estimates, which suggest that India’s logistics cost stands at about 13-14 per cent of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product). Special Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Sumita Dawra said that the government is coming out with its logistics cost framework. The framework would include elements of this cost and how to measure that.

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“So our framework is being done with the help of our technical partner and it’s almost done. But then we have to calculate and I think by the month of September, we will have realistic logistics costs in the country. We will define what are the components and we will have our own estimates,” she said while speaking at CII’s conclave on trade facilitation. Logistics cost plays a key role in facilitating trade and enhancing the competitiveness of traders. The department conducted a workshop in March on the logistics cost framework, and a task force was set up to formulate a framework to determine the cost in the country.

The task force members include representatives from Niti Aayog, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), academic experts, and other stakeholders. The government has rolled out a national logistics policy and PM Gati Shakti initiative to boost the competitiveness of the industry and cut logistics costs. Speaking at the conclave, Sanjay Budhia, Chairman of CII National Committee on EXIM and Managing Director of Patton Group, said that continued focus on creating a paperless trading ecosystem by measures like faceless assessment, risk management system, and direct port delivery have started showing results at the ground level.