In order to cater to India’s growing export community, the government has launched a newly dedicated online portal for the logistics sector.

The move comes after a boom in the logistics sector, thanks in part to e-commerce retail sales picking up in the country.

An official in the commerce ministry said that, in looking at the complexity of the Indian logistics sector, the online portal will streamline and provide a boost to sector on the whole.

The official also said that the sector has to deal with 20 government agencies, 40 partnering government agencies, 37 export promotion councils, 500 certifications and 10,000 commodities. The online portal is part of an ecosystem expected to connect all those working in the sector.

In addition to e-commerce retail companies, the official said, India’s logistics sector includes 200 shipping agencies, 36 logistic services, 129 inland container depots, 50 IT ecosystems and banks and insurance agencies.

“The National Logistics portal will be implemented in phases and will fulfill the commitment of the Government of India to enhance trade competitiveness, create more jobs, provide a boost to Digital India and pave the way for India to become a global logistics hub,” commerce minister Suresh Prabhu wrote in a tweet.

According to the ministry, logistics cost to the country’s gross domestic product is 14%. The ministry says that after the portal is online by 2020, logistics cost will come down to 10% of GDP, which would give the country’s economy a boost.

The portal was announced in the 2018-19 budget by finance minister Arun Jaitley, who said that the new online marketplace for trade will connect businesses, create opportunities and bring together various government departments and private players.

As per the Economic Survey 2017-18, the Indian logistics sector provides livelihood to more than 22 million people; improving the sector’s efficiency will facilitate a 10% decrease in indirect logistics costs, leading to a growth of 5-8% in exports.

Further, the survey estimates that the worth of Indian logistics market to be around US$215 billion in two years, against US$160 billion now.

Before the announcement of the portal in January 2018, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to identify logistics challenges facing industry and suggest action solutions to the Logistics Division.

The MoU mandated CII to interact with state governments and work on promoting the logistics sector, along with capacity building programmes. It was also decided that both the sides will cooperate in organizing a national logistics convention each year to bring together stakeholders in the sector.

In the World Bank Logistics Performance Index, India ranked 35th in 2016 as compared to 54th in 2014. In the 2018 edition of the index, India had dropped to 44th. The index is an interactive benchmarking tool created to help countries identify the challenges and opportunities they face in their performance on trade logistics and what they can do to improve their performance.

By Jagdish Kumar

India Correspondent | Mumbai