Winds of change!

There is a feeling of optimism in the Indian cargo and logistics sector. The Draft Civil Aviation Policy released by the Civil Aviation Minister focusses on brightening the cargo sector’s space to raise it to its full potential. The idea to develop the air cargo sector by developing six metro airports as regional cargo hubs, integrating multimodal transport facilities, cold chains and other commodity specific requirements and turnaround time for cargo to upgrade them to international standards have given the muchneeded hope for better days ahead.

The 41st ACAAI Convention held in Shanghai also discussed the gasping changes taking place in the air cargo sector and the problems posing as hindrances to the pace of growth in this sector. The concept and consequences of compartmentalisation of the airline and freight forwarding communities were also discussed.

The port sector, on the other hand, is calling for revision of the policy guidelines. The archaic and restrictive policies issued by TAMP have only hindered the growth of major ports and there is a dire need to free them from the regulatory regime to enable them to compete with the fast expanding non-major ports.

The ‘Make in India’ campaign will definitely have a lot to give to the industry, the need simply is to take right steps to make this project successful, there is a need to create state-of-the-art infrastructure for all verticals including rail, road, sea and air transportation.

On the other hand, the demand of the cargo and logistics sector has been an adequately skilled manpower base. This is not only the responsibility of companies but also the government. We all are inclined to think that demographic dividend is important but it becomes a liability if we are not capable to train and educate our youth.