Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched National Logistics Policy in New Delhi on Saturday. Mr Modi said that the reform addressed challenges related to transport sector, speeded up last-mile delivery and saved money for businesses.

In an address at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, the prime minister said that the policy was a comprehensive effort to enhance the efficiency of the logistics ecosystem as India was fulfilling big export targets and emerging as a manufacturing hub. Hailing India’s emergence as the world’s fifth-largest economy, he noted that the country was changing and said: “The National Logistics Policy will bring new energy in all sectors.”

“For the country to become globally competent, there is a need to charge up efforts, efficiency and improve productivity,” he said.

The prime minister said that the capacity of Indian ports had increased significantly and the average turnaround time of container vessels had come down from 44 hours to 26 hours. Schemes like Sagarmala and Bharatmala project that connect ports and dedicated freight corridors expedited the work of dedicated freight corridors to improve logistics connectivity for systematic infrastructure development, he said.

With launch of the Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP) today, he said logistics services would be easier for exporters. ULIP is a system that aims to monitor smooth cargo movement.

The government had created 40 air cargo terminals to improve the speed of exports, he said and noted: “35 multi-modal logistics hubs are being established in India.” The prime minister maintained that a policy in itself was not the result. “It’s the beginning as Policy + Performance = Progress,” he said.

From 13-14 per cent logistics cost, we should all aim to bring it to single-digit as soon as possible. This, in a way, was a low-hanging fruit, if we had to become globally competitive, the prime minister emphasised.

Referring to his move to release cheetahs brought from Namibia into a special enclosure at the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh earlier in the day, Mr Modi said, “There is a connection with the launch of National Logistics Policy and the release of cheetahs on the same day. We want our logistics to move at the same speed of the cheetah,” he said.