New Delhi : Aviation sector will now be a part of multi-modal logistics hubs in India to promote holistic logistics solutions, union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday.
At present highways, ports, inland waterways and railways are part of the planned multi-modal logistics hubs in India.
The new plan projects the logistics sector to grow to USD 360 billion by 2032 from the present USD 115 billion. “Integrated approach for logistics is the priority of the government. Airports will be part of multi-modal logistics hubs. Our government is setting up 400 regional airports and they will have pre-cooling cold storages among other logistics solutions,” Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Gadkari said here.
Development of integrated logistics solutions will be part of the Prime Minister’s Flagship ‘Make in India’ programme, he said at a curtain-raiser event on India’s first Integrated Transport and Logistic Summit on May 3-5, 2017. “Government will bring aviation sector this time into multi-modal hubs as it has huge potential in the logistics sector also,” he said adding that the summit is expected to attract investments to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore.
The minister said that to transform India’s logistics from a point-to-point model to hub-and-spoke model is aimed at reducing logistics cost, reports PTI. “A specific programme for development of multi-modal logistics parks, together with multi-modal transport facilities, will be drawn up and implemented.
The vision is to transform India’s logistics from a point-to-point model to a hub-and-spoke model to achieve reduction in logistics costs and to ensure that multi-modal infrastructure comes up in the country in an integrated manner,” he said. India is a growing economy and the high cost of logistics — currently at 14 per cent of GDP — is having a negative effect, he said.
