Indian Logistics: Key Challenges and Solutions to Strengthen the Industry

The fast-paced economy can only be achieved with a strong, robust, and efficient logistics sector that facilitates a forward and reverse of goods and services across the globe. While India wishes to make the logistics sector the backbone of the nation, it is heavily dependent on road transportation. Indian road transport carries approximately 66% of cargo, followed by shipping at 3%, air at 1%, and rail at 31%. Furthermore, to facilitate this cargo movement, India has an extensive network of infrastructure including 128+ container depots, 300 sq. ft of warehousing space and 160+ contain freight stations.

The sector continues to see an uneven distribution of modes, leading to low operational efficiency. For this reason, the government is taking initiatives to streamline the logistics sector by digitalizing the processes as well as making the entire mode agile, green, and transparent.

Gradually, the Indian logistics sector particularly the Project logistics service in Mumbai is aligning itself with the evolving business landscape by focusing on the role of digitization at every step, improving infrastructure, and optimizing efforts for a sustainable future. This is only possible if issues like infrastructure and policies are rectified.

The main challenges of the logistics sector are categorized as follows:-

Solutions to Empower the Sector

1. Explore New Business Models and Technologies
   
   The logistics industry all over the globe is talking about the disruption in the supply chain and growing concern about sustainability. This has forced the industry to rely on technology-enabled solutions for supply chains including Big Data, Digital Twins,  IoT, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, and Blockchain. Undoubtedly, the use of technology-enabled solutions is low in India, however, the government has released digital solutions like ICEGATE and E-logs, aiding the industry to be transparent, efficient, and faster in delivering the goods.
    
2. Alluring Investors for Foreign Investments
   
   While the Government of India has been the financier of infrastructure development, it is not attracting investors as levers to optimize infrastructure development. The National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) has been a lever that has been supporting the development of the infrastructure. They are expected to raise at least INR 50 lakh crore worth of investment to bring the desirable impact required to heighten the process of improving the infrastructure efficiently.
    
3. Optimising Infrastructure Development
   
   The Government of India is taking initiatives to lure private capital and execute administrative reforms to seamlessly streamline infrastructure investments. The government is launching various programs like Sagarmala, Bharatmala, and GatiSaktito to build new infrastructure for different transportation modes including railways, roads ports, etc.
    
4. Embracing Sustainable Logistics
   
   The government of India is trying to adhere to Global regulations for sustainable supply chain and logistics. The project logistics in Mumbai and nationwide are moving ahead to conform with global benchmarks like the Emission Trading System, Efficiency Existing Ship Index, and Carbon Intensity Rating.

How can we help?

With over 120 years of experience in supply chain and project logistics service in Mumbai, Jeena & Company can very well comprehend the challenges one can face during the import and export of shipments. Hence, we render end-to-end logistics support.