Multimodal logistics: A cure-all for the country
Multimodal transport is not just about forcing a specific modal split but also about improving the connection between all modes of transport, integrating them into a competitive, effective, and speedy supply chain system for the country.
India freight is growing at 9.1 per cent CAGR and is expected to grow at 13.65 per cent by 2020. Getting logistics right means improving infrastructure, skill, customs, regulations, policies, and governance in the right proportion. Improving infrastructure needs coordinated development in the multimodal logistics sector to attain competitiveness. It is crucial to make the movement of cargo faster and more efficient. A multimodal programme to reduce logistics costs and make the economy more competitive through adopting an integrated approach of transforming logistics sector from a ‘point to point’ model to a ‘hub and spoke’ model involving railway, highway, air and IWT along with modern mechanised warehouses is needed. Setting up 35 multimodal logistics parks at an investment of `50,000 crore, development of economic corridors, and setting up of SPVs for implementation have been discussed. Increased allocation in the development of road network, including the ‘Bharatmala Pariyojana’, with an aim to develop a 35,000 km road network (in Phase-I) providing connectivity to interior and border areas of the country at an estimated cost of `5.35 lakh crore is suggested.
Afzal Malbarwala, Managing Director, Galaxy Freight, says, “In India, though we are offering multimodal services to the customer, it is not happening in the true sense because all modes are working independently and due to the lack of a single co-ordinated platform, it is not termed multimodal.” He believes that the government should support trade with single platform, maybe at the Central Government level.”A single ministry is the need for growth of the logistics industry because this industry is going to drive and support future economic growth. Many stakeholders have such grievances, which are directed to different ministries, and in turn these ministries take their individual priorities into consideration while deciding. This is hampering the multimodal logistics community. Scattered growth planning is not going to achieve goals in the long run,” he explains. “To succeed, what is needed is a collaborative effort to define a clear, long-term, and sustainable vision encompassing initiatives that are proactive rather than reactive. This, in turn, requires a logistics planning approach
All modes of transport are developing individually; there is no co-ordination between them