Dear Reader,

The commerce ministry recently released the draft National Logistics Policy and invited comments from stakeholders to create a national logistics e-marketplace as a one-stop destination for exporters and importers. Simultaneously, the government has been active on other forums as well, welcoming suggestions from the industry. In another encouraging move, the draft suggests setting up a start-up acceleration fund to help incubate ventures that are bringing in new technologies in the logistics space, particularly in areas of market aggregation, freight forwarding, cold chain, and telematics. In our Opinion section, we try and understand the scope of this initiative in taking India’s logistics start-ups forward.

With a view to reducing the total logistics cost of international trade and enhancing logistical efficiency and bilateral relations, CONCOR signed an MoU with RZD Logistics, a Russian Railways company, to develop multimodal logistics services along International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC). The first Air Freight Station at New Delhi is also ready to be launched after obtaining security clearance, the Ministry of Civil Aviation shared.

A lot has been happening on the shipping front! Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, launched a slew of highway and port projects worth `6,000 crore in Odisha and said that another `2.5 lakh crore would be pumped in to boost infrastructure. He announced that a 262 km-long waterway, combining Mahanadi and Brahmani rivers, will be developed from Kalinganagar to Dhamra via Paradip at a cost of `5,000 crore. This waterway is expected to carry around 200 lakh tonnes of cargo every year and is touted to be a game changer for the state.

Maersk also successfully completed its first voyage on National Waterway-1. The Ministry of Shipping recently announced that an Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) vessel with as many as 16 Maersk containers reached Kolkata from Varanasi.

Indeed, the year seems to be a promising one for the logistics and cargo sector!

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