Govt Aims To Bring Down Logistics Cost To 9% From 16% By 2024: Nitin Gadkari

The main challenge in the Indian industry, trade and business is the high cost of logistics which is currently at 16 per cent, whereas in European countries and America, it is 12 per cent and in China, it is 8 per cent, said Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways. He was speaking at the ASSOCHAM Annual Session 2023 held today in Delhi.

He claimed that by the end of 2024, the aim of his ministry is to bring down logistics to a single digit at 9 per cent which in turn will help us increase export.

“To accomplish this, the government is focusing on improving both roadways and railways. We are building green highways and industrial corridors with a focus on reducing the distance between major cities and hubs,” he said.

Talking about some of the key national highway projects Gadkari said, “After completion of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway, people can travel between Delhi and Mumbai in just 12 hours, Nagpur Mumbai in 5 hours and Nagpur Pune in 6 hours. This will help reduce the logistics cost. We are building tunnels in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and these are going to reduce the distance drastically.”

Discussing saving fuel costs by focusing on alternative fuel he said, “Our focus should be on converting waste to wealth. For example, Delhi has three mountains of solid waste. Within the next two years, this waste will be used in road construction, flattening the waste fields. We are focussing on developing outer-outer ring road which passes over 13 railways lines. Roadmap has been prepared to shift wholesale markets and warehouses to designated zones around this zone. This will decongest Delhi- commercial vehicles will bypass entry into Delhi, reducing pollution problem.”

“The aim is to reduce the cost of hydrogen as fuel to USD 1 which in turn will run a vehicle up 450 Kilometres. Green hydrogen is a futuristic fuel and helps run transportation and various other industries without power. It can be used in aviation and railways. The problem of power plants producing fly ash solved. Fly ash is now being utilised in road construction as a mix with bitumen and cement. I personally feel that our priority should be ethics, economy, ecology and environment. So, our focus should be from waste to wealth,” he said.

Acknowledging ASSOCHAM’s contribution to the nation’s growth, the minister said “I would like to thank ASSOCHAM for helping us save 5 thousand crores in the Zoji-La Tunnel project, the project cost of which was estimated at 12 thousand crores. This has been made possible with the contribution of ASSOCHAM in a very conducive environment and is a saving for the nation.”