While electricity and green hydrogen are the clear favourites, there is some residual fascination with biofuels. With the notification of more liberal rules for the movement of drones and private jets, new modes of transport are becoming available and steadily more affordable.Ī major area of concern among the conclave participants was the choice of fuel.
Inter-state cooperation to permit movement across state borders is another layer of challenge, one that has been eased but not overcome by the introduction of GST. In this, the central government’s Gatishakti programme, meant to bring about such coordination and cooperation of different modal regulatory regimes, should help.
Then, there is the achievement of regulatory convergence to enable smooth handover of cargo from one mode to the next. That is only the technological part of the challenge. Efficient coordination in logistics depends on ubiquitous telecom connectivity and the deployment of the capacity for machine-to-machine communication. That means tagging every piece of freight with sensors that can communicate with machines that would relay real-time information to a central hub that can coordinate onward movement.Īs a participant pointed out, if a truck goes to a factory and is kept waiting for hours to get loaded, that wastes capital and builds inefficiency, just as does the cargo that is unloaded at the berth and has to wait for a truck to arrive and be cleared from the port. For that, the primary requisite is collection and sharing of the relevant data. One is creation of the appropriate modes of transport, such as barges and ports to navigate inland waterways, goods trains that run to a timetable, and trains that connect large towns with smaller towns in the neighbourhood. To achieve intermodal transport, some things need to change. Shifting a greater proportion of freight to railways, inland waterways and coastal shipping, in seamless intermodal shifting of the same cargo load, was seen as the best strategy to bring down costs, as transport by rail and water is significantly cheaper than transport by road.Ĭhanging the fuel used in all forms of transport, so as to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, is the key to both meet India’s climate goals and to improve air quality, besides lowering cost. The single biggest factor making India’s logistics costly was identified as the excessive reliance, at present, on road transport for cargo movement. The discussion focused on the potential to drastically reduce the high cost of logistics in India, promote economic efficiency, increase exports, accelerate growth and create new jobs and incomes. India spends some 13% of GDP on logistics, while China spends less than 10%. If India can improve its logistics, it would undoubtedly raise India’s global competitiveness.
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