FY24 CAPEX increased to Rs.2.6 lakh crore to improve freight transport
A 37-acre air cargo village near Jewar Airport is being planned with an investment of Rs.1,200 crore for commissioning by Dec 2024, says Ajay Kumar, CEO of AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Ltd (AAICLAS).
Airport capacity building is being undertaken at Kolkata with a target to construct an upgraded and new facility by December 2025, he told 11 Stakeholder Ministries and Departments during a meeting on Measures Taken and Action Plan for Improving India’s Logistics Performance Index (LPI) Ranking
The meeting on improving India’s LPI ranking was held on 17 Nov with the nodal officers of the LPI dedicated cell formed in eleven Stakeholder Ministries and Departments.
The dedicated cell meets every fortnight to assess the measures taken and outcomes achieved in improving performance across six parameters of LPI including (i) Customs., (ii) Infrastructure (iii) Ease of arranging shipments (iv) Quality of logistics services (v) Tracking and Tracing and (vi) Timelines.
The Ministry of Railways is planning across six parameters of LPI, added Manoj Gangeya, the Ministry’s ED (Planning).
This includes 100% electrification of railway tracks, increasing CAPEX to Rs.2.6 lakh crore in FY24 to improve the speed and volume of freight transport in the country, and the implementation of Eastern and Western dedicated freight corridors is likely to increase the average speed of freight trains, thereby by reducing transit time and inventory cost to customers.
Additionally, the development of rail containerisation at ports and freight terminals is expected to increase the rail container loading from 80 million MT recorded last year to 3 times by FY31.
The Ministry is also checking the feasibility of railway siding at Land Ports to promote multi-modal connectivity, he informed.
Various initiatives have been planned to improve logistics efficiency at Ports, including the automation of weighbridges, improving scanning facilities and streamlining and simplifying processes by creating Standard Operating Procedures (SoPS) across all the ports, informed Rituraj Mishra, Deputy Secretary (Ports).
The Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) has implemented a Land Port Management System (LPMS) to digitise operations and facilitate a secure electronic flow of information between all stakeholders at the Integrated check posts (ICPs), says LPAI Secretary Vivek Verma.
The system is reducing the dwell time of cross-border movements (trade and passenger), enhancing the efficiency of customs and border management clearance, and improving the timely delivery of shipments.
He added that LPAI has been successful in reducing the dwell time from 57 days to less than 24 hours.
DPIIT Special Secretary Sumita Dawra has highlighted that the targeted action plan is important to improve the logistics efficiency of the country and thereby India’s ranking in the World Bank LPI.
She added that the measures taken by the stakeholder Ministries and Departments will be showcased to the World Bank LPI team.
She noted that the good practices by Ministries will help in impressing the idea of objective-based assessment in LPI calculation to the World Bank. Fiinews.com
