‘India not a developing country any more’

The German logistics and shipping firm Dachser SE has recently picked up the remaining 50 per cent stake in Dachser India from its JV partner AFL Group, to take full control of its Indian arm. Fired with optimism, Dachser's top leadership takes an aggress

In Mumbai for the company’s AGM, Dachser’s top management took the opportunity to discuss its strategy and plans for this year. Dacher’s CEO, Bernhard Simon, was also visiting India and was engaged in CSR activities under its foundation ‘terre des homes’. In a free-wheeling interview, Thomas Reuter, COO (Air & Sea Logistics), Dachser; Edoardo Podesta, MD (Air & Sea Logistics) for Asia Pacific, Dachser and Huned Gandhi, MD (India), Dachser talk about the challenges and growth possibilities in India.

Gandhi: We have been completely integrated into the Dachser network, which now makes it easy for Dachser to operate in India. It also opens up huge opportunities government,but fact remains that we have to be here. We had found the right partners in AFL. They decided they wanted to disinvest completely and we were very happy to takeover. changing here and becoming easier. Our business is becoming more process-driven, which in India's service industry is still difficult to do. Still, we are doing business here tion can move faster. This will also reduce the lay time that our shipment spends on the road. It makes logical sense to remove all these procedural bottlenecks for the industry to grow. I hope the deadline of 2016 is honoured, as it will completely revolutionise the industry.

Podesta: It is not easy to draw comparison between China and India. I went to China for the first time in 1992 , about 23 years ago, and there was very little happening in terms of infrastructure. I honestly believe that one of the reasons China has economically developed very fast is because its government had put priority on infrastructure. My business is intrinsically linked to infrastructure development. I do believe the Indian government has realised that there is a need to take up infrastructural reforms and hopefully, they will happen soon.

If the Indian government has the right strategy and the will to execute it properly, I do not see why India could not, in due time, undergo the industrial development that China did.