New Delhi: The Indian government is proactively pursuing an improved Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking by advocating recent reforms and initiatives geared towards enhancing logistics efficiency, particularly through schemes like PM Gati Shakti. Sumita Dawra, the Special Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), emphasized the necessity for an objective methodology in LPI scoring, differing from the World Bank’s current perception-based approach.
India’s ambition is to secure a place among the top 25 countries in the LPI ranking by 2030. In the latest 2023 LPI, India currently holds the 38th position out of 139 countries.
Dawra revealed that DPIIT officials have been actively engaging with their counterparts at the World Bank, highlighting the importance of adopting an objective methodology for ranking. The World Bank presently employs six parameters to evaluate countries’ performance in areas such as customs, infrastructure, international shipments, logistics competence, tracking and tracing, and timelines.
Dawra expressed her view during a press briefing, stating, “We feel this is a very narrow way of ranking India on important global indices, and there is a lot of work going on that should be reflected in the calculations. We have analyzed the parameters and the way it is done. We would like the World Bank to include our interventions and reforms which are contributing to improve logistics in India.”
She further disclosed that a report outlining a framework for assessing India’s logistics costs is ready for release by the end of the month. According to government estimates, India’s logistics costs account for 8-14% of the gross domestic product (GDP).
To address logistics-related issues, a service improvement group was established in March, examining 80 issues from various departments, including revenue, railways, and road. Out of these, 34 have already been resolved. Furthermore, 106 firms have signed non-disclosure agreements to gain access to data from the ULIP (Unified Logistics Interface Platform).
Lastly, during a recent Network Planning Group (NPG) meeting under the PM Gati Shakti program, six projects were assessed, three of which belong to the Ministry of Railways (MoR) and three to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). These projects collectively amount to Rs. 14,081 Crore, bringing the total number of projects assessed by NPG to 106, with a cumulative value of approximately ₹11 Lakh Crore since the launch of the PM GatiShakti approach.
